Mack Hansen: “It was good to get the win. Probably didn’t play as well as we wanted too. There was a few mistakes that we need to fix up before we go to the World Cup.”
FULL-TIME: Ireland 29 England 10 Even though it was mistake-ridden, that was a cakewalk for Ireland. They played only in fits and starts, England had very little to offer and the result was never in doubt. You’d have to be delighted for Earls, who got his try to mark his 100th cap. The line-out was all over the shop, the handling was shaky and the penalty count was far too high. But that’s four wins in a row over England and it’s on to Bordeaux, with Samoa waiting next Saturday.
78 mins: Mack Hansen has been announced as man of the match. I’d say that was a short conversation. Ireland 29 England 10
73 mins: TRY IRELAND! The biggest cheer of the day because it’s Keith Earls who gets it! Aki spins a huge pass out to the left and Earls has a chance. And boy does he take it, skating down the left wing and finishing with a double-pike-twist touchdown at the corner. That’s what everyone came to see. Crowley does what Byrne had been unable to do, converting from the sideline. Ireland 29 England 10
72 mins: TRY ENGLAND! Shut up, Mal. Kyle Sinckler burrows over from a coupole of inches out and England finally have a try. Ford converts. Ireland 22 England 10
70 mins: England have been fairly useless all day. They finally get a bit of possession going in the Ireland 22 but it ends with Steward isolated in front of the posts and getting held up on a choke tackle by half a dozen Ireland players. Ireland are rusty as an old gate but they’re such distance better than England, even in their lessened state. Ireland 22 England 3
65 mins: TRY IRELAND! They can! Ireland draw penalty after penalty, England can’t stop them legally and after yet another advantage, Byrne spins a long pass out to Mack Hansen on the right wing and he steps inside two tackles to dot down in the corner. Hansen deserves that - he’s been terrific. Byrne misses his third conversion out of four - none of them have been easy, in fairness. But he’ll need to improve on that. Ireland 22 England 3
63 mins: England’s discipline is shot here. That’s a high tackle from Itoje and Ireland have a penalty - Jack Crowley kicks to the corner. Can Ireland finally get something going at an attacking line-out?
60 mins: England crash away at the Ireland line but Ireland hold firm. Big tackles from James Ryan, Earls and it’s Finlay Bealham who finally comes up with it! Big penalty win for Ireland. Ireland 17 England 3
59 mins: In fairness, England are carrying the fight now, even though they’re down to 14. They force a penalty on the Ireland 22 and kick to the corner. Just before it, James Lowe and Bundee Aki clash heads and Lowe has to go off for a HIA. Which means it’s Keith Earls time - he comes on for his 100th cap and the crowd goes wild. Ireland 17 England 3
57 mins: RED CARD! Vunipola’s yellow card has been upgraded to red and that’s a disaster for England. He can’t have any complaints - he led with the shoulder, didn’t make any attempt to wrap his arms and now he’s facing a ban. Unless the England legal eagle can work his magic...
54 mins: TRY IRELAND! Ireland attack from the penalty. Josh van der Flier pierces the England defence, Ireland pile in, Ross Byrne finds James Lowe in a car park of space out on the left and it’s an easy run-in. Byrne hits the post with a tricky touchline conversion. Ireland 17 England 3
53 mins: Billy Vunipola is in trouble here. Andrew Porter came surging towards him and he caught him on the head with a shoulder. The referee gives him a yellow card and it’ll be up to the bunker boys now to decide whether or not to upgrade it to red. What a stupid tackle. No attempt to wrap his arms. Ireland 12 England 3
49 mins: This is a very annoying match. From that scrum, Ireland win a penalty. They kick to the corner. They make a mess of the line-out, Herring throwing in crookedly. Scrum England. Ireland transgress again at scrum-time, free kick England. That’s five minutes of everyone’s life that nobody is getting back. Ho-hum.
45 mins: And yet again, it comes to nothing. England have gone after the Ireland line-out maul today with extreme prejudice and they force another turnover, this time a scrum. Ireland are getting no purchase from what is usually a big attacking weapon. Ireland 12 England 3
44 mins: Penalty Ireland. England brought that on themselves, faffing about in their own 22 and now Ross Byrne kicks to the corner. Ireland line-out, five metres out... Ireland 12 England 3
40 mins: George Ford gets us underway and the second half is alive.
The teams are coming back out. Hopefully they’ve left some of the rust in the dressing rooms. You’d be a bit miffed if you paid €110 for your ticket today...
HALF-TIME: Ireland 12 England 3 Well, that was never particularly easy on the eye but Ireland will take it. They weren’t ever all that comfortable in attack but they chiselled out a couple of tries and never looked likely to cough one up. Loads and loads of mistakes. Let’s decide they’re getting them out of the way a month early. I’m off for a cuppa. Back in 10.
39 mins: IRELAND TRY! Finally a bit of fluency from Ireland. Lowe, Keenan and Prendergast combine for the initial break, O’Mahony finds himself in miles of space on the left wing and recycles, Ross Byrne feeds Hansen whose cross-kick finds Garry Ringrose on the right. It’s a monumental finish from Ringrose, soaking up Freddie Steward’s initial tackle and twisting inside Elliot Daly. Byrne misses the conversion but that’s a brilliant try. Ireland 12 England 3
37 mins: This is ever-so slightly worrying. Dan Sheehan limps off to be replaced by Rob Herring. Clearly it’s precautionary. Let’s hope it’s nothing worse. Ireland 7 England 3
36 mins: Aaaand, they immediately make another mistake. This time it’s Ross Byrne, throwing a pass to nobody on the England 22. Hansen scrambles to retrieve but holds on too long and it’s an England penalty. Ireland compound it by giving away another penalty at the line-out. Which England then makes a hames of, as Billy Vunipola knocks on. So many cobwebs in need of clearing on both sides here. Ireland 7 England 3
33 mins: After a period of kick-tennis, Hansen decides he’s had enough of this messing and makes a dart. Lovely hands from Prendergast gets Ireland on the front foot and England are done for offside in midfield. Better from Ireland. Ireland 7 England 3
30 mins: All a bit scrappy here. Knock-ons, handling errors, collapsed scrums. Hugo Keenan kicks out on the full. Hugo Keenan! You’d almost think it was pre-season. Ireland 7 England 3
25 mins: Ireland are racking up the penalties here. Mack Hansen is the miscreant this time - a pretty blatant non-roll away 40 metres from goal on an angle to the posts. But Ford misses, skewing it to the right of the posts. Bit of a let-off for the home side. Ireland 7 England 3
21 mins: Brilliant combination in midfield between Ringrose, Lowe and Mack Hansen finds a break on the wing and Ireland win a penalty as Itoje gets a bit handsy on the floor. Byrne kicks to the corner but the ref pings Ireland at the line-out maul. Bit of a waste of a good position, that. Ireland 7 England 3
19 mins: Ireland have a line-out on the England 22 and they’re mauling. But the handling hasn’t been typically precise so far and it breaks down. England scrum, Ireland go early. Free kick to the visitors and Ford clears to halfway.
13 mins: Oh, Cian Prendergast needed that. After his first two cameos in the game coughed up turnovers that led to England getting into the Ireland 22, he combines with O’Mahony to snaffle at a ruck, winning a penalty under the Ireland posts. Ireland clear their lines. Ireland 7 England 3
7 mins: TRY IRELAND!! Immense clearing kick from James Lowe from beneath his own posts gets Ireland up the pitch after a bit of a mis-up in attack had allowed an England break. He must have kicked that a good 60 metres. Ireland get after the line-out and Peter O’Mahony breaks up the middle before putting Bundee Aki away and the Connacht centre makes no mistake. Byrne converts and Ireland are away. Ireland 7 England 3
5 mins: England are first on the attack and have generally kept the ball in hand throughout the opening exchanges. Tadhg Beirne is eventually done for not rolling away and George Ford splits the posts from 30 metres straight in front of the posts. England 3 Ireland 0
Ross Byrne has the ball, and we’re off!
Anthem time. Kick-off no more than five minutes away.
The two teams are gathering in the tunnel. Keith Earls has his three girls in a line and is leading the Ireland team out on the occasion of his 100th cap. The Aviva rises in acclaim and we’ll soon be underway...
Most important of all, of course, is that everyone makes it to 8pm uninjured and unsuspended. Let’s everybody keep our tackle heights down and our arms wrapped. The World Cup opener against Romania is 20 days away. As Esterhaus used to say, let’s be careful out there.
So this should be fun, right? Any game against England in Lansdowne is always worth a look, regardless of the circumstances. But the Owen Farrell business has made this slightly more than a run-of-the-mill World Cup warm-up game, you’d have to think. Certainly, it has royally pissed off the good ship England, which is never not fun to watch.
Matt Williams’ column this week is looking ahead to the next two World Cups, explaining why Irish rugby is in a good place in comparison to England and Australia ...
England and Australia have to confront some tough realities and implement deep systemic change, or their path to the next two tournaments will be as rocky as this one, with a string of broken coaching contracts and both teams continuing to underperform.
All you need to know guide ...
A look at the England team which Steve Borthwick has selected for this afternoon’s game ...
[ England leave out Owen Farrell for Ireland warm-up testOpens in new window ]
The upside of a sorry week for the sport is that World Rugby has reacted the way many people believed it should, by showing leadership and a willingness to question such a questionable decision. They are due to step back into the ring early next week where they will no doubt come up against English rugby’s favourite lawyer.
[ World Rugby has rightfully intervened in shameful Owen Farrell decisionOpens in new window ]
And some more on the Owen Farrell red card saga ...
[ Gerry Thornley: There are no winners in the Owen Farrell red card sagaOpens in new window ]
[ Andy Farrell rages against ‘disgusting circus’ as he defends his son OwenOpens in new window ]
Keith Earls is set to win his 100th cap today, joining a very exclusive club ...
[ Popular Earls caps illustrious career by joining a very exclusive clubOpens in new window ]
Check out Gerry Thornley’s preview below ...
[ Determined Ireland seek statement win for fitting World Cup send-offOpens in new window ]
IRELAND: Hugo Keenan (Leinster); Mack Hansen (Connacht), Garry Ringrose (Leinster), Bundee Aki (Connacht), James Lowe (Leinster); Ross Byrne (Leinster), Jamison Gibson-Park (Leinster); Andrew Porter (Leinster), Dan Sheehan (Leinster), Tadhg Furlong (Leinster); Tadhg Beirne (Munster), James Ryan (Leinster); Peter O’Mahony (Munster), Josh van der Flier (Leinster), Cian Prendergast (Connacht).
Replacements: Rob Herring (Ulster), Jeremy Loughman (Munster), Finlay Bealham (Connacht), Joe McCarthy (Leinster), Caelan Doris (Leinster), Conor Murray (Munster), Jack Crowley (Munster), Keith Earls (Munster).
ENGLAND: Freddie Steward; Anthony Watson, Joe Marchant, Manu Tuilagi, Elliot Daly; George Ford, Ben Youngs; Ellis Genge, Jamie George, Will Stuart; Maro Itoje, David Ribbans; Courtney Lawes (Capt), Ben Earl, Billy Vunipola.
Replacements: Theo Dan, Joe Marler, Kyle Sinckler, Ollie Chessum, Jack Willis, Danny Care, Marcus Smith, Ollie Lawrence.
Referee: Paul Williams (New Zealand)
Assistant Referees: Craig Evans (Wales), Adam Jones (Wales)
TMO: Ben Whitehouse (Wales)
Overall head-to-head: Played 140. Ireland 52 wins, England 80, 8 draws.
Last five meetings: (2020, 6N) England 24 Ireland 14 (Twickenham). (2020 ANC) England 18 Ireland 7 (Twickenham). (2021 6N) Ireland 32 England 18 (Aviva Stadium). (2022 6N) England 18 Ireland 32 (Twickenham). (2023 6N) Ireland 29 England 16.
Five-game formguide: Ireland – Won 32-19 v France (home). Won 34-20 v Italy (away). Won 22-7 v Scotland (away), Won 29-16 v England (home). Won 33-17 v Italy (home).
England – Lost 13-27 v South Africa (home); Lost 23-29 v Scotland (home); Won 31-14 v Italy (home); Won 20-10 v Wales (away); Lost 10-53 v France (home).
Hello and welcome ... Ireland continue their Rugby World Cup preparations with the visit of England to the Aviva Stadium this afternoon. The second of three warm up matches ahead of next month’s tournament kick-off, and by far the biggest test of the three.
Andy Farrell’s team are looking to make it four wins in a row against England, and he’s gone with 11 of the team who beat the same opposition to seal the Grand Slam back in March. England are off the back of a morale boosting win over Wales, but are without Owen Farrell, left out amid the controversy surrounding his red card in that win being overturned and subsequently the decision being appealed by World Rugby.
World Cup places are up for grabs, not to mention the rivalry, so this should be a real battle! We’ll be providing build-up and updates throughout, So let’s get started!
Rugby World Cup warm up: Ireland v England, Aviva Stadium, Saturday, 5.30 – Live on RTÉ 2
