Musgrave Park will be rocking on March 20th as Ireland chase a Grand Slam against Scotland following an emphatic win over England.
Trailing by 10 points early in the game, Ireland showed poise and maturity to recover from a number of missed opportunities against an always physical England side.
Charlie Tector produced a Man of the Match performance, kicking superbly from the tee and driving Ireland on throughout.
England started brightly with George Hendy scoring from an excellent phase of play. Jamie Benson added the conversion and then a penalty to put the home side 10 points clear.
Tector got Ireland on the score board with a penalty following a good passage of play that got Ireland into the game.
On 19 minutes Matthew Devine scored the first of Ireland’s five tries when he pounced on a lose ball and slipped free to cross the whitewash.
Just three minutes later Lorcan McLoughlin added to Ireland’s tally with Tector adding the extras to make it 10-17.
England drove back into the Ireland 22 and the TMO judged that Emeka Ilione had grounded a loose ball to score. Benson brought the side level with the conversion.
Ireland started the 2nd half with intent as prop Rory McGuire forced his way over the line in the 43rd minute, after Ireland had hammered at the England defence. Tector’s conversion put Ireland ahead by 24-17.
Ireland kept attacking but failed to convert some clear chances. Their only reward in this period was a Tector penalty that kept the scoreboard ticking over.
England hit back with a try from Cassius Cleaves to keep them in the hunt. Cleaves then denied Ireland an almost certain score with a brilliant try-saving tackle on Chay Mullins.
Mullins was replaced by Aitzol King on 61 minutes who made an immediate impact. King took an inside pass from Ethan Coughlan following a lineout and showed serious power to hold off a number of defenders.
Five minutes later the young Balbriggan wing bagged his second try with an acrobatic finish in the corner.
England managed one more score with Diego Bailey touching down but the 2nd half belonged to Ireland.
Richie Murphy’s side were full value for their five try win and will look forward to a raucous finale in Musgrave Park on Sunday next.
Source: Irish Rugby