England issue powerful RWC statement by hammering wretched Ireland
England issued a powerful statement ahead of the World Cup by overwhelming Ireland 57-15 at Twickenham in a victory that set records for the highest score and greatest winning margin against their Six Nations rivals.
Tries in each half by Joe Cokanasiga and additional touch downs from Elliot Daly, Manu Tuilagi, Maro Itoje, George Kruis, Tom Curry and Luke Cowan-Dickie indicated Eddie Jones’ men will be genuine contenders in Japan this autumn.
At the heart of a second triumph of the summer’s four warm-up Tests was the man of the match Tuilagi, who bristled with power and intent that tormented a vulnerable Irish defence that fell to pieces in the second half.
It was Joe Schmidt’s team who took first blood through an early Jordan Larmour try, but their hopes of clinching the win that would lift them to the summit of the global rankings at the expense of Wales quickly disintegrated.
The greatest danger England faced was not from impotent Ireland but sunburn as Twickenham roasted in temperatures that peaked at 30 degrees, yet they were well equipped for broiling conditions having spent 10 days in a heat camp in Treviso.
Joe Schmidt and Rory Best give their reaction to Ireland's disappointing loss to England in Twickenham on Saturday afternoon. #ShoulderToShoulder #ENGvIRE https://t.co/wRU5YDTq2A
— Irish Rugby (@IrishRugby) August 24, 2019
Maro Itoje and Billy Vunipola were magnificent up-front, while George Ford is arguing a strong case to reclaim the fly-half duties for the World Cup, but players excelled across the whole starting XV.
While England fans will be daring to dream would could unfold in Japan this autumn, their Irish counterparts must be questioning whether a team that laboured to third place in the Six Nations are in full reverse.
And to add misfortune to misery, they also came off worse on the injury count as Cian Healy suffered an ankle injury before Conor Murray was withdrawn at half-time having earlier passed a head injury assessment.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B1jXoFxoyGg/
Mako Vunipola followed them into the stands late on, however, as his comeback following four months out with a hamstring injury took a worrying twist.
It started so promisingly for the visitors as Iain Henderson’s rip of English lineout ball, coupled with a kind bounce, launched their challenge in thrilling fashion.
A kick and chase down the left wing by Jacob Stockdale appeared to be covered by three defenders only for Tuilagi, Daly and Cokanasiga to be wrong-footed when the ball landed and flew over their heads for Larmour to gather and score.
It's thumbs up for so many England players following their Twickenham destruction of Ireland
https://t.co/PFs4CxWNZP— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) August 24, 2019
England’s ingenuity in midfield, assisted by Jonny May coming off his wing, allowed Cokanasiga to reply with an injection of pace rather than his power sweeping him over.
Ross Byrne’s penalty nudged Ireland back in front but they were unpicked for a second time in the 29th minute as they fell victim to a combination of crisp off-loads, power and the speed at which the ball was dispatched wide.
Tuilagi was the main source of go forward with two imposing runs and he also provided a flick on before the over-stretched defence cracked when Daly strolled across the whitewash.
A disastrous day for Ireland against England at Twickenham is reflected in their low-scoring player ratings https://t.co/XyYpU3Lzzz
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) August 24, 2019
Evidence of an impending rout came with England’s third try, a simple score from a five-metre scrum that Ireland should have stopped before Tuilagi raced over.
It was all too easy as Itoje became the next to capitalise on feeble defending as he took Ben Youngs’ pass following a series of drives and touched down.
Once Kruis has squeezed the ball over the line for the fifth try, referee Nigel Owens wanted to see replays of a crunching Tuilagi try on Larmour but correctly decided there was no foul play.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B1jkEdKIUp7/
England’s ‘Kamikaze kids’ – the term Eddie Jones used to describe flankers Curry and Sam Underhill who were starting in the same back row for the first time – combined for Curry to touch down.
A scrum move saw a huge gap open up for Cokanasiga that the Fijian-born powerhouse eased through before dummying and scoring.
Bundee Aki showed his pace to stem the flow of points but Luke Cowan-Dickie grabbing an over-throw at Ireland’s lineout and helping himself to five points summed up the visitors’ dreadful afternoon.
– Press Association
WATCH: Billy Vunipola issues an update to RugbyPass about brother Mako’s injury playing for England on Saturday
Comments on RugbyPass
Great role model.
2 Go to commentsOne significant tell, not a single Waratahs player stopped to whinge to the ref about Finau’s tackle. They got on with playing the game. Great tackle.
8 Go to commentsWouldn’t be a bad move if Ireland pulled into SA with a young side. Particularly in Pretoria. Invaluable experience getting thumped in the bosveld.
59 Go to commentsIreland. The Princess Diana of Rugby. I never cheered so much for a team as i did for the All Blacks in that QF.
59 Go to commentsWill be great to see the Leinster first XV back in action again after their cotton wool time…
1 Go to commentsLooked up Grant Constable on google and reply was doppelgänger for Ben Smith
59 Go to commentsIt is so good that we now all get excited and debate who is best and emotionally get involved. We all back our teams which is great. Up until about 15-20 years ago, NZ was basically on its own, and then Saffa, Aussie and sometimes French and English were there. We now have at least 5-6 really top sides and another 4 who keep improving. This is so healthy. So we should not resort to rubbish comments and unhealthy debate, but rather all be chuffed that the product we watch is not competitive, exciting and often uncertain. It would be so good if World Rugger could find a way to align the rules to professional players as well as spectators. Live rugby games are SO boring as there is SO much down time as we wait for refs and TMOs and whoever else to look at every small event going back endless phases with the hope of eventually find a minute infringement to then decide cancel what was a wonderful try. This is the ultimate cork back in the bottle moment and feels like every balloon is always being popped. Come on- we must be better with the rules.
59 Go to comments“upon leaving said establishment I tripped over a stool knocking some bottles into the air and as I fell I accidently dislodged a police officer’s teaser who was passing by on an unrelated matter there by landing on said taser which caused it to discharge 50,000 watts into me. Out of shock I shouted Ireland are going to win the world cup. Upon waking up I apologised for the distress caused by my Ireland comment. The matter is closed. If you wish to pursue this matter may I remind you what I told Wayne Barnes when he sent me off. I AM A BIG ASS MAN”. Or was it “I AM A BIG ASS, MAN” or was it “I AM A BIG ASSMAN”?
2 Go to commentsThe only championship the Boks hold are: Great value for the incompetence of referees during the RWC Moaning endlessly and champions of spewing utterly ignorant 💩 at all times. Displaying the dangers of a third world education End of.
59 Go to commentsSouth Africa and Rassie do a phenomenal job of treating the 4 years in between World Cups as nothing more than a training exercise to build squad depth. The Six Nations money that keeps Irish rugby afloat is unfortunately too important to allow the same approach, and basic population size means we'll never get close to matching the depth of South Africa, England and France. That being said, Irish rugby is in a relatively good place and slowly improving inch by inch. If the other three provinces can pull the finger out and actually develop some players it'd be even better.
59 Go to commentsGood on Clarke for taking on the criticism and addressing his deficiencies, principally his laziness.
2 Go to comments“It is the people’s favourite against the actual favourite. It is the people’s champions against the actual champions. I’m joking, but it’s going to be a fantastic series.” Why did Darcy make that joke knowing it would be used as click bait? Why did RP headline it as a serious comment? Anyway, the tired comment isn’t very astute. SA players may have played more games etc. Darcy over estimated as a pundit.
59 Go to commentsNot sure Frisch will ever make the French team with Depoortère and Costes waiting in the wings to take over from Danty and Fickou.
1 Go to commentsThe Irish are tired and the Boks are old. The test series won't confirm who is best in the world, it will confirm which team needs to pursue the task of rebuilding with the most urgency.
59 Go to commentsGrant, the first time I have seen an article written by you. Maybe I have missed your previous stuff. These days all professional players effectively play a common season so all top players are equally tired, or rested. That is the job of the coaching ticket to build squad depth and juggle resources so players are ‘ fresh’ when the big games come. Possibly Ireland are less inclined to juggle squad compared to Rassie, who is prepared to take the risk to rest players as well as build depth throughout the year so come WC he has a full squad, experienced and rested enough to win 7 games. After all, to win WC you need to get through the tournament and then win the final big 3 games. Ireland should try and build a bit so come final 3 they are ready. So far only played final 1(QF). I am so looking forward to the Irish tour. Hopefully Rassie has enough time to align his guys, as he draws them from across the globe, and not from 2 sides locally( eg Leinster, Munster). No excuses, going to be exciting.
59 Go to commentsIn football, teams get fined and sometimes docked points for deliberately fielding weakened teams yet Leinster can pretty much do as they please with no comebacks. Could it be because Ireland run the URC? Could it be that Ireland run the ERC? Whichever it is, it stinks!!
6 Go to commentsIreland are only the People’s Champions in Irish eyes. The rest of the world do not care for them very much because of attitudes of people like Gordon, Ferris, Best, Jackman…I could go on!!
59 Go to commentsNot sure how Karl Dickson can ever ref a Quins game, he played for the club for 8 years as understudy to Care and is still close friends with half the team
3 Go to commentsAre bookies taking bets on how many times Vunipola's eventual statement will use the term “elders"? My money is on at least 4 times.
4 Go to commentsSo Ireland will be tired, despite having the most rested test squad in the world. They only play tests, champions cup and urc play off games ffs! Case in point; Leinster sent a B squad to SA for their last two games while their first xv rested up and trained at their leisure for the sf vs Saints at the so called ‘neutral venue’ of Croke Park. So tired? Do me a favour… And as for “people’s champions”? Seriously??? Outside of Ireland they are respected for their ability to win 6N. And of course plenty of inconsequential test friendlies without any real pressure. WC ko games when the pressure is white hot? Not so much…
59 Go to comments