England 21-42 Ireland: Home team’s Six Nations aspirations ended following historic defeat
England’s Six Nations campaign collapsed dramatically as they were decisively eliminated from title contention following a 42-21 defeat to Ireland at Allianz Stadium.
A week after suffering another setback at Murrayfield, Steve Borthwick’s squad conceded 22 unanswered points in a tumultuous first half hour, with Luke Cowan-Dickie and Freddie Steward substituted before the break.
The struggles continued into the second half as a beleaguered England failed to mount any significant offense in their first loss at Twickenham since November 2024.
All the issues highlighted by Scotland reemerged, marked by a high error count, a lack of physicality across the board—especially in defense—underperforming senior players, and a void in leadership.
George Ford eliciting ironic cheers when he found touch encapsulated his afternoon, and it was a disheartening way for England captain Maro Itoje to commemorate his 100th cap on a day when Twickenham resembled the Aviva Stadium.
Ireland excelled at exploiting the weaknesses of the favorites, achieving their sixth win in seven encounters with England, delivering an upset that revitalized their Six Nations after a shaky start in the opening two rounds.
Jamison Gibson-Park orchestrated the match effectively, with Stuart McCloskey and Caelan Doris providing strong support in a victory that alleviated the mounting pressure on head coach Andy Farrell.
Both teams entered the match aware that another defeat would eliminate them from the title race, and it was Ireland who stepped up to the challenge.
In a display of their anxiety, England commenced with a series of fundamental mistakes, highlighted by Ford’s kicking struggles as he failed to find touch with one penalty and subsequently sent another one out of play.
A lapse in concentration allowed Gibson-Park to score from a quick tap penalty after Ireland had launched an attack from deep, and they capitalized on yet another English mistake, this time at a line-out.
Alex Mitchell departed with an injury, and the hosts’ troubles escalated when McCloskey easily evaded Ollie Lawrence, leading to Robert Baloucoune scoring in the right corner shortly after.
To compound the situation, Freddie Steward was sin-binned for a foul on Gibson-Park without the ball.
Ireland appeared unstoppable as they secured their third try through a combination of their creativity and the hosts’ faltering defense, with Tommy O’Brien finishing a well-executed move down the left flank.
Motivated by their urgency, England concluded a period of intense pressure with a try from Fraser Dingwall, but just moments after the restart, Henry Pollock was sin-binned for not releasing, allowing Dan Sheehan to score easily.
Lawrence crossed the line to complete a satisfying attack, but successive penalties from Jack Crowley widened Ireland’s lead to 21 points.
England were utterly directionless, and their defense was breached for a fifth time as Jamie Osborne capped off a series of attacks, and although they managed to score last through Sam Underhill, the extent of their defeat was unmistakable.
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