England vs Ireland – Report – Six Nations Championship 2024 – 9 Mar, 2024،
England fly-half Marcus Smith scored a drop goal on the last kick of the match to give his side a dramatic 23-22 victory over Ireland, whose hopes of back-to-back Grand Slam titles collapsed at Twickenham on Saturday .
It was an electric start to the match as England started on the right foot and quickly had the crowd behind them.
They scored with their first attack of the match, swinging the ball to the left and finally finding Ollie Lawrence who concluded an explosive phase of play.
Ireland looked subdued and it was England – whose lack of attacking threat has at times been in the spotlight this year – who were fluid with ball in hand.
Number 8 Ben Earl and captain Jamie George relentlessly broke through the Irish defense and set the tone in a dominant first half for England.
While England had the upper hand in territory and the intention to play free-flowing rugby was there, they had nothing to show at the break.
Thanks to penalties and the boot of flyhalf Jack Crowley, Ireland led 12-8 as the teams returned to the sheds.
If coach Andy Farrell told his team to take the lead from the start, they listened. Irish winger James Lowe scored just minutes after the restart to extend their lead.
But England stuck to the expansive rugby they started the match with and moments later hit back.
Sam Underhill burst through and offloaded to Maro Itoje who released George Furbank down the left side in a clever move to score the home side's second try of the evening.
With an increasingly impatient crowd cheering them on, England rallied and managed to press again. After pushing Ireland back to their own line, Earl crashed over to score his second try of the championship and give his side the lead.
They may have been below their best for much of the match, but Ireland were still chasing two historic Grand Slams in a row and, as they have done time and time again, they s is removed in the match.
The visitors moved the ball from one side of the pitch to the other, with the ball landing in the sure hands of Lowe who scored for the second time.
A tense final five minutes awaited him, and Twickenham found his voice again.
The White Wave once again forced itself forward and Smith – in his first game of the tournament – got into position and iced the drop goal.
Relief and euphoria erupted on the pitch as England celebrated their victory from the death, while Ireland's players fell to the ground in disbelief after suffering only their third defeat in 23 matches.
England can finish the tournament on a high against France in Lyon next week, while Ireland host Scotland in Dublin.
