How the world reacted to England's dominant Six Nations victory over Ireland
England’s impressive 24-12 defeat of Ireland at Twickenham on Sunday has left the visitor’s hopes of a Grand Slam and a Triple Crown in tatters, although the tournament title aspirations of both sides remains intact.
It will take a juggernaut effort from both England and Ireland to dethrone Wales as European champions, though, as the result in London leaves France four points clear at the summit of the table.
Victory for France over the next three weeks would see the Six Nations crown return across the English Channel for the first time in a decade, and Fabien Galthie’s side could well have England to thank for their imminent success following a compelling display in the British capital.
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With their hopes of a Triple Crown on the line, Eddie Jones’ men fronted up superbly in front of their home fans to keep themselves in the hunt for what would be their third title in five years.
So commanding was their performance that it earned an array of superlatives from esteemed New Zealand Herald scribe Liam Napier, who lathered the likes of Maro Itoje and Manu Tuilagi in praise for their efforts.
“England could hardly have been more dominant – their immediate roll on and powerful collisions reminiscent of their World Cup semifinal win over the All Blacks,” Napier wrote in his match report headlined ‘England win bruising Six Nations encounter over Ireland‘.
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“Prior to this effort their Six Nations campaign had been far from impressive; a first up loss in Paris and narrow win in Edinburgh failing to convince they had put their World Cup final disappointment to bed.
“Without the influential Vunipola brothers, Mako and Billy, there were questions whether England could impose their physical strengths they so crave.
“On this occasion, in their first home match of the season, they emphatically answered yes.”
Those sentiments were echoed by World Cup-winning former England and British and Irish Lions coach Sir Clive Woodward, who highlighted man-of-the-match Courtney Lawes as a standout in his Daily Mail column ‘England proved me wrong with a strong disciplined display in Ireland victory‘.
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“In contrast Ireland just weren’t there mentally in the first half and I can offer no explanation other than it does sometimes happen. Rugby is often an art more than a science, if it was the latter you could come up with the answers every time,” Woodward penned.
“Courtney Lawes is possibly a case in point. Like many others I wouldn’t have picked him at blindside flanker. I didn’t think he had gone well there in the past whereas he always looks a world-class lock, but he responded to the criticism of the selection — not him personally — with a magnificent all-round performance.
“Lawes rightly earned the man of the match award to celebrate his 31st birthday although I would say Maro Itoje would have run him pretty close.”
Conversely, it was Ireland captain Jonny Sexton who copped much of the blame from a losing perspective, as emphasised by The Guardian‘s Gerard Meagher in his piece ‘Wayward Johnny Sexton at the heart of Ireland’s struggles‘.
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“By then Ireland’s captain had already gift-wrapped England their first try – juggling Ben Youngs’s grubber kick under close attention from Owen Farrell before spilling it into George Ford’s path,” Meagher wrote after expressing sympathy for the Irish playmaker’s misfortune.
“He proceeded to waste a penalty advantage, twice, with loose kicks, then shanked the resulting kick at goal and he was at fault soon after with a dreadful pass to Bundee Aki.
“Indeed, Sexton’s passing, normally so accurate, was off throughout – one of those days when the ball just won’t come out of the hands as hoped.”
Pundits on social media didn’t let their opinion go to waste either, with plenty of users taking to Twitter to take aim at one of the more bizarre moments of the fixture when English skipper Owen Farrell refused to let go of Irish No. 8 CJ Stander’s leg at a breakdown.
The South African-born Munster loose forward responded in physical fashion before being handed a penalty for Farrell’s indiscretion, which caught the attention of many online.
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Owen Farrell has finally learnt how to wrap his arms.
Thoroughly enjoyed watching him get punched, I won't lie ?#ENGvIRE pic.twitter.com/QGFY787G62
— Sean (@Seanasauruss) February 23, 2020
Farrell penalised for this – TMO and ref say no punches and Stander is trying to get away pic.twitter.com/vl3Dn7eSHk
— Jonny Fordham (@JonnyBFordham) February 23, 2020
Owen Farrell #ENGvIRE pic.twitter.com/SX2d0gCRqE
— Wicked Foster Child (@fosterpcl) February 23, 2020
https://twitter.com/BigDunc123/status/1231612863871148032
#SixNations #ENGvIRE as if that Irish player punched Farrell multiple times and didn't even get spoken to about it! Farrell may have been holding his leg but theres no need to punch!
— Natalie Ayris (@natalieaayris) February 23, 2020
With just two rounds remaining in this year’s competition, the focus will narrow in on whether England and Ireland can chase down the French lead – a task which has just been made much more difficult for Andy Farrell’s side.
Ireland will resume their campaign in Dublin on March 7 when they host Italy before suiting up for what is set to be a blockbusting encounter against Les Bleus in Paris seven days later.
Before that, France will travel to Edinburgh to face off against Scotland on March 8, while England will host Wales in a must-win fixture and then travel to Rome to sign off their tournament against Italy in what could be a title-clinching match.
In other news:
Comments on RugbyPass
Anna, You are right, we need to have patience whilst the others catch up to England and France. Also it is the PWR that has been the game changer for England. the RFU put money into that initially at the expense of the Red Roses. I was sceptical at first but it has paid off in spades.
1 Go to commentsI think Matt Proctor became a 1 test AB in the same fixture. Cameron is quality and has been great this season, can’t believe’s he only 27. Realistically how would he not be selected for ABs squad this year. Only Dmac is ahead of him as a specialist 10. With Jordan out, it will come down to where and when Beauden Barrett slots back in, and where they want to play Ruben Love. Cameron seems an absolute lock in for the wider squad though. Added benefit of TJ-Cameron-Jordie combination at 9, 10, 11 too.
1 Go to commentsFarcical, to what end would someone want to pay to keep this thing going.
1 Go to commentsHavili, our best 12 by a mile, will be in the squad, if he stays fit. JB is the most overrated AB in the last 50 years.
61 Go to commentsWe had during the week twilight footy, twilight cricket, tw golf plus there was the athletics club. Then the weekend was rugby 15s plus the net ball, really busy club scene back then but so much has changed and rugby has suffered. And it was all about changing lifestyles.
6 Go to commentsIn the 70s and 80s my club ran 5 Senior sides plus a Vets. Now it is 2 sides with an occasional 3rd team. Players have difficulty getting to training now, not sure why and the commitment is not there. It seems to me more a problem of people applying themselves and not expecting to turn up and play whenever they want to.
6 Go to commentsROG’s contract is until 2027. The conversation about a successor to Galthie after RWC 2027 may be starting now. We can infer that Galthie’s reign stops then. He is throwing the Irish Coaching Job angle in because he is Irish. The next Irish coach MUST be Leo Cullen. As well as being the best coach available, coaching the vast majority of Irish Internationals week in week out, he has shown incredible skill at recruiting the best coaching staff for the job in hand. That was a failing in France. Cullen is a shrewd guy and if there is a need for foreign coaches underneath him he won’t hesitate. Rightly so. Ireland does need to start to bring Irish coaches through. Not just at the professional level but we need to train coaches to man new pathways for developing kids from schools/clubs up through the divisions.
8 Go to commentsNo Islam says it must rule where it stands Thus it is to be deleted from this planet Earth
18 Go to commentsThis team probably does not beat the ABs sadly Not sure if BPA will be available given his signing for Force but has to enter consideration. Very strong possibility of getting schooled by the AB props. Advantage AB. Rodda/Skelton would be a tasty locking combination - would love to see how they get on. Advantage Wallabies. Backrow a risk of getting out hustled and outmuscled by ABs. Will be interesting to see if the Blues feast on the Reds this weekend the way they did the Brumbies we are in big trouble at the breakdown. Great energy, running and defence but goalkicking/general kicking/passing quality in the halves bothers me enormously. SA may have won the World Cup for a lot of the tournament without a recognised goalkicker but Pollard in the final made a difference IMO. Injuries and retirements leave AB stocks a bit lighter but still stronger. 12 and 13 ABs shade it (Barret > Paisami, Ione = Ikitau, arguably) Interesting clash of styles on the wings - Corey Toole running around Caleb Clark and Caleb running over the top of Toole. Reece vs Koro probably the reverse. Pretty even IMO. 15s Kelleway = Love See advantage to ABs man for man, but we are not obviously getting slaughtered anywhere which makes a nice change. Think talent wise we are pretty even and if our cohesion and teamwork is better than the ABs then its just about doable.
11 Go to commentsCompletely agree. More friday night games would be a hit. RFU to make sure every club has a floodlit pitch. Club opens again Saturday to welcome touch / tag. Minis and youths on Sunday
6 Go to comments1.97m and 105Kg? Proportionately, probably skinnier than me at 1.82 and 82kilos. He won’t survive against the big guys at that weight.
55 Go to commentsThe value he brought to the crusaders as an assistant was equal to what he got out of being there. He reflected not only on the team culture but also the credit he attributed to the rugby community. Such experience shouldn’t be overlooked.
8 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
11 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
61 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
11 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to commentsTo me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
61 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
8 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
61 Go to comments