Ireland XV 14 England A 52
Here is John O’Sullivan’s match report:
[ Ireland XV shellacking to England A completes sober few days for Irish rugbyOpens in new window ]
That’s it from me, good night!
80 mins: Try for England! An eighth try, by Roots, absolutely dominant. Even the referee can’t get out of the way as he gets knocked over en route. Converted by England.
Full-time: Ireland XV 14 England A 52
A sobering match for the Irish lads, completely outplayed at home.
76 mins: Poor lineout from Ireland again, too many errors and showing a lot of Ireland’s fringe players may not be the level to change Farrell’s mind.
72 mins: Kenny is back up at least and Ireland have a promising attack. Quick offload by Jansen to Bryn Ward who makes some ground. Ireland get a penalty advantage five metres away, go to the other side, Zac Ward offloads to Jansen to within a metre, Jansen tries to score but held up.
From the lineout, they try to force their way over, but summing up the evening, Zac Ward drops the ball under contact a metre or two from the line.
69 mins: To make matters worse, Joshua Kenny, one of the few bright spots, is holding his calf, hopefully not a bad injury.
66 mins: George Hendy is on as England show the depth of their squad, quality replacements even for their second team. England not holding back and keep pushing for more, Ireland losing heart.
62 mins: Scrum penalty for England, Searle with a great kick into the corner. Clean lineout and a great tackle by Frawley but someone else was offside. With penalty advantage, England go to the other wing and...
Try for England! Murley finishes well, accelerates away from the tackles. Searle converts from near the sideline. Dominant performance by England.
Ireland XV 14 England A 45
60 mins: England win a penalty from the scrum, but failed to find touch, Ward keeping it in but Frawley knocked it on, another England scrum. Archie van der Flier is brought on, cousin of Irish star Josh.
56 mins: Matthew Devine is on for Gunne. Good scrum by Ireland but Zac Ward is forced into touch by England, Carpenter forcing him there. But Ireland turn over the lineout, then Devine finds a little gap to make some space.
Try for Ireland disallowed. Had looked the best try of the night for Ireland by Cathal Forde, sidestep then explodes, wrongfooting the England defence and then touches down under the post. Good stuff. Frawley converted. But back to TMO and a very harsh knock on, little in it, but it’s ruled out.
Ireland XV 14 England A 38
50 mins: Thankfully for the Irish defence, Randall has been subbed off, Quirke is on now. But immediately Quirke makes an impact with a carry and good pass to the wing.
Try for England! They pass from side, nice passes from Bailey and Blamire and Hassell-Collins gets another. Searle converts.
Ireland XV 14 England A 38
49 mins: Ireland win a penalty from a counter ruck and Frawley kicks to chance, chance for a try. Jansen is brought on for try scorer Gleeson as he watches his team mess up the lineout with a knock on. Tried a long one and Irvine couldn’t keep hold of it.
45 mins: Try for England! Kloska gets it, Ireland struggling with a man down to stop the power of England and Kloska gets it. Randall and Searle excellent in maintaining the pace.
Ireland XV 14 England A 31
43 mins: Kelly gives away the ball early in a bit of a misunderstanding in the first 30 seconds of the half. Some kick tennis and then Searle kicks nicely to touch.
Yellow card for Ireland. England win a penalty, Wycherley is sent to the bin.
Half-time: Ireland XV 14 England A 24
One last attack for England as a kick in behind requires Frawley to cover well, Ireland will be happy enough to be only 10 behind as they were second best for most of that. England’s halfbacks stood out in particular. Plenty of time left to launch a comeback though.
Here was Ireland’s opening try:
39 mins: Try for Ireland! That’s more like it, a bit of luck after England misplay a pass, well kicked on by Kelly on the fly and Joshua Kenny shows his pace to finish very well. Farrell watching on. Frawley converts.
Ireland XV 14 England A 24
35 mins: Ireland win a penalty and another decent chance to see how their lineout and attack is functioning. Wycherley takes a long lineout, just about, then a great carry by Bryn Ward, but Roots smashes into Gunne to turn it over. Then England go immediately, Searle carries through several metres then kicks and Zach Ward covers, but it’s a five-metre scrum.
Try for England! Randall gets England’s fourth try after intense pressure on the Irish defence. Randall gives the defence the eyes, smartly touches it down. No bonus points in a one-off game but it’s a hammering so far.
Ireland XV 7 England A 24
29 mins: Try for England! Hassell-Collins with it, great pass by Randall after Bailey had almost carried to the line. Good play by England as they edged up the field in several phases of high quality. Ireland struggling here. Searle just misses the conversion.
Ireland XV 7 England A 17
23 mins: England penalised for a high tackle on Gunne by Haffar, chance for Ireland from an attacking lineout. Well taken and the maul gains another few metres. Gunne goes a few more, but Wycherley is held up. Back for a penalty, Ireland touch and go, almost at the line. Gunne tries a crossfield kick, back for another penalty.
25 mins: Try for Ireland! From this one, it’s Brian Gleeson who gets it. Bryn Ward and Deegan help out and Gleeson gets it over. Frawley’s conversion is scored.
Ireland XV 7 England A 12
18 mins: Frawley kicks it out on the full as the ball kicks off the wet ground. Back for the England scrum. Ireland give away a penalty straight away from the scrum and Searle kicks it for a five-metre lineout. England win the lineout and try to maul to the line. Deegan is penalised and Ireland are struggling to hang on. Another lineout, well taken by England.
Try for England! Searle scores as they broke from the maul, Randall to Searle, who dummied, picked his moment and finished. He misses his own conversion.
Ireland XV 0 England A 12
15 mins: The rain is pouring now in Limerick as Ireland give away a lineout. Some kick tennis between the two teams before Kenny kicks it to touch on halfway.
Ireland under serious pressure again after some quick passing and rucking by England and then a dangerous kick towards the corner by Murley. Kenny covers well. Ireland survive in the next play after a knock on by Dombrant.
9 mins: Superb tackle by Shane Daly prevents a try, Ireland try a high ball but a similar to the failures against France yesterday. Carpenter fields it well and it comes to Randall and he’s almost through but a last-ditch tackle by Daly. Scrum to England though.
Try for England! Ethan Roots shows his strength after finding a gap and powers it over. Converted by Searle.
Ireland XV 0 England 7
6 mins: Eye-catching run from Gus McCarthy after turning over the lineout, but a sloppy pass from a team-mate gives the ball away.
3 mins: England win a scrum penalty early on and kick safely for touch, early pressure on the Irish defence. Clean lineout. Ireland survive though with a turnover and Gunne clears well.
Some big Irish names spotted in the crowd - Andy Farrell, Johnny Sexton and Paul O’Connell at Thomond. Kick-off is approaching.
John O’Sullivan says there is a lot of intrigue in tonight’s game given the team selected, and it will be of interest to the main team’s coaching staff
“Some of the Irish senior coaching group are expected to step off the flight from Paris to Dublin after Thursday’s opening Six Nations match and head straight to Thomond Park, Limerick, to watch the game.
“There’s plenty to unpack in the team. Wings Joshua Kenny and Zac Ward are enjoying superb seasons and there will be a frisson of excitement if they get possession in a meaningful way going forward. There is another player in the three-quarter-line, Munster’s summer signing Dan Kelly (24), whose performance will be scrutinised closely."
Hello and welcome to live coverage of Ireland XV v England A, which kicks off at Thomond Park at 7.15pm. After Ireland’s troubling defeat to France last night, there is a chance for some fringe players, young stars too, to make an argument for future selection against England. Joshua Kenny and Zac Ward in particular on the wings are two to watch out for.
IRELAND XV: Shane Daly (Munster); Joshua Kenny (Leinster), James Hume (Ulster), Dan Kelly (Munster), Zac Ward (Ulster); Ciarán Frawley (Leinster), Fintan Gunne (Leinster); Billy Bohan (Connacht), Gus McCarthy (Leinster), Scott Wilson (Ulster); Charlie Irvine (Ulster), Fineen Wycherley (Munster); Max Deegan (Leinster, capt), Bryn Ward (Ulster), Brian Gleeson (Munster).
Replacements: Diarmuid Barron (Munster), Sam Crean (Ulster), Jack Aungier (Connacht), Harry Sheridan (Ulster), Paul Boyle (Connacht), Matthew Devine (Connacht), Cathal Forde (Connacht), Sean Jansen (Connacht).
ENGLAND A: Joe Carpenter (Sale); Cadan Murley (Harlequins), Luke Northmore (Harlequins), Orlando Bailey (Leicester), Ollie Hassell-Collins (Leicester); Billy Searle (Leicester), Harry Randall (Bristol); Tarek Haffar (Leicester), Jamie Blamire (Leicester), George Kloska (Bristol); Ben Bamber (Sale), Joe Batley (Bristol); Ethan Roots (Exeter, capt), Jack Kenningham (Harlequins), Alex Dombrandt (Harlequins).
Replacements: Kepueli Tuipulotu (Bath), Archie van der Flier (Leicester), Afolabi Fasogbon (Gloucester), Hugh Tizard (Saracens), Fitz Harding (Bristol), Raffi Quirke (Sale), Charlie Atkinson (Gloucester), George Hendy (Northampton).
