England 15-32 Ireland rugby LIVE RESULT: Ewels RED CARD after 82 seconds tells as Irish earn bonus point Six Nations win
14-MAN England went down to a brave defeat against Ireland at Twickenham.
Lock Charlie Ewels was sent off after just 82 seconds for a head-on-head collision with James Ryan.
James Lowe then compounded England's misery by scoring the first try of the game for the Irish before Hugo Keenan crossed the line to score a second try for the Irish.
Eddie Jones would have been pleased with the way his side battled back, controlling the scrum and breakdown as Marcus Smith converted five penalties to draw level at 15-15.
But the extra man ultimately told as Jack Conan and Finlay Bealham crossed the line late on to secure a bonus point Irish victory.
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Off his ed
World Cup-winning England director of rugby Sir Clive Woodward has criticised Eddie Jones for claiming his side are underdogs against Ireland.
He wrote in the Mail: "It has been predictable to hear Eddie Jones insisting England are underdogs in the build-up to today's match.
"I've never understood why any coach in any sport would do this unless you really are the underdog and, even then, why state the obvious?
"England at home should never be considered underdogs.
"They have suffered just three defeats in their last 38 home Test matches, so I really do not know where this rhetoric is coming from but it is badly misplaced.
"Opposition teams, from South Africa and New Zealand downwards, need to fear playing at Twickenham, while England players must always have an extra spring in their step when they run out at HQ.
"It should be a fortress, a place any visiting team dreads coming to."
'P45 time'
Former England Rugby World Cup winner Austin Healey has warned Eddie Jones that his job is on the line in the Red Rose's final two Six Nations games.
He wrote in The Telegraph: “The ramifications for this game are enormous.
“If England lose heavily at home to Ireland then they would have to go to Paris to take on France in the final round – the best French team we’ve seen in a generation, who are still in the hunt for a Grand Slam – and it would be very difficult to see how you talk your way out of those losses.
"It could be another successive fifth-place finish.
“Playing well and losing to Ireland and then losing to France might just about be enough. But if England are beaten convincingly – two scores or more – by the Irish and then lose in Paris, then it’s P45 time.”
I guess that’s why they call it the Bleus
While England and Ireland toil, France will have the chance to put their feet up today.
The French ground out a 13-9 victory against Wales in Cardiff to leave them just one match away from the Grand Slam.
Only one of the English or Irish will remain capable of preventing the French winning a first title since 2010 once proceedings at Twickenham have drawn to a close.
‘England were mad’
England have drawn criticism from Sir Clive Woodward for their decision to dismiss Andy Farrell and Mike Catt from the coaching setup after a poor 2015 Rugby World Cup.
The World Cup-winning coach wrote in the Daily Mail: “I wish Andy Farrell and Mike Catt were still at the heart of the England set-up.
“They paid the price for their part in England's disappointing 2015 World Cup. Stuart Lancaster was rightly replaced but it was ridiculous to boot out his assistants as well.
“Farrell and Catt were at the start of their coaching careers and the lessons they learned were part of the process coaches need.
“If you have been through the mill you come back stronger. Graham Henry and Steve Hansen post-2007 and myself in 1999 are examples.”
Far out
England vs Ireland is usually a father-son affair, but Irish coach Andy Farrell will not be competing against son Owen this year.
England captain Owen Farrell is missing the entirety of the Six Nations due to an ankle operation.
Courtney Lawes takes over as captain in his place.
England team to face Ireland
Still no Owen Farrell for the Red Rose as they get set to face his father's team.
Courtney Lawes remains captain for this clash.
Steward; Malins, J Marchant, H Slade, J Nowell; M Smith, H Randall; E Genge, J George, K Sinckler, M Itoje, C Ewels, C Lawes (C), T Curry, S Simmonds.
As it stands
Here’s how the Six Nations table looks at the moment.
Following today’s huge clash at Twickenham, only one of England or Ireland will be able to wrestle the title from France.
This, of course, doesn't include the result of the Italy vs Scotland game, with the Scots currently winning 10-12.
‘Next step’
Andy Farrell has called on Ireland to take the “next step” by beating England at Twickenham.
The Irish have been improving under Farrell’s stewardship but have yet to taste victory on English soil since Joe Schmidt was coach.
And Farrell said: "They’ve certainly got a very good record [at Twickenham] so there must be something in it.
"When you look at our Aviva record as well it probably compares well so there’s something in that.
"But it’s part of the journey, isn’t it? It’s part of the next step for us as a team to making sure we go to places like this and be at our best because we know that England are going to come at us.
"We know that they’re going to cause us problems but we’re confident in our own ability.
“We’re a good side, we need to make sure that we’re able to be at our best on the day on what is going to be a fantastic occasion.
"Look, we know that there’s going to be thousands of Irish that are going to be at Twickenham as well and we want to hear them sing through our performance as well."
How can Ireland win the Six Nations?
Ireland must get a result against England at Twickenham and then hope the Red Rose do them a favour the following week.
Ireland are seven points behind France but have a better points difference.
They are therefore likely to lift the title with two victories, provided France lose to England.
Ireland team to face England
Pretty much a full strength team for Farrell Snr as he takes his Ireland team back to the home of his former employers.
H Keenan, A Conway, G Ringrose, B Aki, J Lowe; J Sexton, J Gibson-Park; C Healy, D Sheehan, T Furlong, T Beirne, J Ryan, P O'Mahony, J Van Der Flier, C Doris.
Physical education
Eddie Jones says Ireland will be in for a shock when they face the physicality of his England team.
He commented: "Ireland know it's going to be a physical game.
"They haven't played a game as physical as this for a long time.
"It's not easy because they are a good team but we feel we can disrupt their pattern and tempo. When you do that you create opportunities.
"The downside of being such a cohesive team is that the players rely on those patterns a lot.
“When the pattern breaks they start looking at each other to work out what's going on. We'll see on Saturday."
Head-to-head
England have by far the superior head-to-head record with 80 wins to Ireland’s 50.
They have also won four of the last five meetings, despite Ireland being victorious in their most recent showdown in Dublin last year.
Ireland have lost all their past three matches at Twickenham and last won there in 2018.
How can England win the Six Nations?
England must win both their matches to have a chance of winning the Six Nations titles.
Should England amass nine points from their games against Ireland at home and France away, and prevent France from earning a point, they will win the title.
That would mean earning one victory with a four-try bonus point.
Should England win both their matches without scoring four tries, they must beat France by eight points or more.
The destination of the title would then be decided on points difference.
Number one contenders - England vs Ireland
England take on Ireland for the right to challenge France for the Six Nations title in the final weekend.
The Irish are currently in second position, one point ahead of Eddie Jones’ side.
But it is England who have their fate in their own hands and will know exactly what they have to do in Paris if they secure victory at Twickenham.
Both teams have two wins and a defeat but it’s Ireland who have been the more impressive side so far, with Eddie Jones labelling them “the most cohesive in the world”.
The Irish hammered Wales and Italy on home turf but were edged out in Paris in a 30-24 defeat.
England went down to an unlucky defeat at Scotland in the first week but battled back to beat Italy 33-0 in Rome and narrowly defeat Wales 23-19 at Twickenham.
They will be looking for revenge on Andy Farrell’s side after putting in a wretched performance to lose 32-18 in Dublin last year.
But Englishman Andy Farrell would love to get one over Jones again after he was dismissed by the Aussie from the Red Rose setup following his arrival in 2015.
