Grand slam gone: Last-gasp drop goal sees England stun Ireland to win
ENGLAND WIN: Marcus Smith celebrates with teammates after kicking a match winning drop kick. Pic:David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile
GUINNESS SIX NATIONS
Ireland’s dreams of back-to-back Grand Slams came to a stunning end as Marcus Smith landed a last-minute drop goal to give England a Guinness Six Nations victory against the odds on Saturday.
Ireland, strong odds-on favourites to win this fixture against a side that had struggled to find its form in the opening three rounds, failed to deliver the performance expected of them and were never allowed to take control against a disruptive and immensely physical English side who denied the defending champions the opportunity to play the game on their terms.
Ireland fly-half Jack Crowley had kicked his side into a 12-8 half-time lead with four penalties to counter an opening try from England centre Ollie Lawrence and George Ford penalty. And that lead was stretched to 17-8 when James Lowe scored shortly after half-time. But England roared back with tries from George Furbank and Ben Earls, then Lowe grabbed a second to give Ireland a 22-20 lead they clung to as the clock edged past 80 minutes, only for replacement fly-half Smith to break their hearts and end their winning start to the 2024 championship with the last kick of the game.
Ireland had taken the lead through a Crowley penalty on two minutes but were then subjected to an England onslaught that got the Twickenham crowd on its feet as the home side impressed its physicality through big carries and bigger hits as the men in green struggled to exit their own half.
A James Lowe clearing kick was the launchpad for the opening English try, full-back George Furbank taking the ball at pace and sprinting into midfield, passing to Northampton back-three partner Tommy Freeman whose collision with opposing wing Calvin Nash levelled the Irishman.
That allowed the England back to release his team-mates down the left, centre Ollie Lawrence brushing off a Crowley tackle to score a fourth-minute try, though George Ford missed the touchline conversion as Nash was removed for a Head Injury Assessment, replaced by Ciaran Frawley.
For the first time in this championship Ireland looked rattled and were in danger of being steamrolled with English tails up as they sought to atone for their Calcutta Cup defeat in Scotland in round three. A Ford penalty on 16 minutes opened the lead to 8-3, and though Crowley replied four minutes later to narrowed the gap to 8-6, it was England in the driving seat.
Ford had a drop-goal attempt charged down by the seemingly omnipresent Josh van der Flier and minutes later Lawrence was over the Irish line once more on 23 minutes as he gathered a bouncing ball, only for TMO Ben Whitehouse to identify a Furbank knock-on as he battled Frawley for a bouncing ball.
Ford also missed a penalty and Ireland were off the hook but still badly in need of some respite and a jackal from Bundee Aki on flanker Ollie Chessum did the trick, Crowley dispatching the penalty form behind England’s 10-metre line to push the championship leaders into a 9-8 lead and then adding his fourth kick of the opening period to send Ireland into half-time with a 12-8 lead.
Ireland extended their lead shortly after the restart in excellent fashion. Hugo Keenan, now operating on the right wing as Frawley took over at full-back making an excellent aerial take to set his side on their way, equally accurate hands from Crowley and O’Mahony creating space outside them with Frawley supplying the pass to left-wing Lowe, who finished with a leap into the England end zone.
Crowley’s perfect kicking record ended with a missed touchline conversion but Ireland were 17-8 in front after 44 minutes, if only for three minutes as Furbank darted into the left corner with England’s second try. Ford could not apply further scoreboard pressure with another missed conversion, his third failure out of four off the tee but it was a match still finely balanced at 17-13 to the Irish.
Ireland were forced into another reshuffle on 50 minutes when Frawley was forced off for an HIA, 45 minutes after replacing Nash, forcing scrum-half Conor Murray off the bench as the only remaining back among the Irish replacements as Gibson-Park went out to the right wing and Keenan returned to full-back.
And there was further concern when captain Peter O’Mahony was sin-binned for cynical ruck play on 58 minutes. England’s tails were up once more, the crowd buoyed by Marcus Smith’s introduction as Ford’s replacement and there was even more noise when No.8 Ben Earls powered over after some sustained English pressure on the hour, Smith’s conversion sending the home side into a 20-17 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
England sent on replacement scrum-half Danny Care for his 100th Test cap and a standing ovation that included his head coach Steve Borthwick while O’Mahony was replaced when his yellow card was up by Ryan Baird on 69 minutes as Ireland returned to their full complement of 15 players.
It was another Irish replacement forward, hooker Ronan Kelleher who got his side onto the front foot, his jackal penalty allowing Crowley to kick into the right corner with nine minutes remaining. From the lineout, Ireland moved the ball out of the maul from right to left and it was Lowe once again who finished the move, scoring his second of the half in the corner to push his side back in front at 22-20.
Crowley shunted his conversion across the face of the posts to the delight of the Twickenham crowd but it was England who now needed to chase. Ireland gave them some easy access, substitute lock Iain Henderson penalised at a ruck just inside the English half and up stepped Elliot Daly for the long-range penalty, only for the replacement outside back to push his kick narrowly wide as nerves spread throughout the crowd of 81,866 and the clock moved past the 77th minute.
Ireland supporters made their voices heard as they roared their backing for their side and England were reduced to 14 men when replacement Chandler Cunningham-South was forced off through injury. But it was Ireland forced to defend in the dying minutes as England won a lineout over the 10-metre line, moving the ball from coast to coast to right wing Mani Feyi-Waboso and then winning a penalty advantage form the resulting contact.
England kept their composure, went through the phases and created the opening for Smith who calmly slotted the winning drop goal, ending Ireland’s hopes of back-to-back slams. They can still win the title at home to Scotland next Saturday but England now also have silverware in their sights as they travel to Lyon to face France, the championship going to the wire.
: G Furbank; I Feyi-Waboso, H Slade (E Daly, 65), O Lawrence, T Freeman; G Ford (M Smith, 58), A Mitchell (D Care, 65); E Genge (J Marler, 53), J George – captain (T Dan, 53), D Cole (W Stuart, 53); M Itoje, G Martin; O Chessum (A Dombrandt, 65), S Underhill (C Cunningham-South, 60), B Earl.
: H Keenan; C Nash (C Frawley, 5 – HIA; C Murray, 50 - HIA), R Henshaw, B Aki, J Lowe; J Crowley, J Gibson-Park; A Porter (C Healy, 71), D Sheehan (R Kelleher, 60), T Furlong (F Bealham, 60); J McCarthy (I Henderson, 60), T Beirne; P O’Mahony – captain (R Baird, 69), J van der Flier (J Conan, 60), C Doris.
P O’Mahony 59-69 mins
: Nika Amashukeli (Georgia).
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