England v Ireland: Five takeaways as ‘immense’ Ben Earl compared to Red Rose greats after famous Six Nations victory
England back-row Ben Earl on one knee.
Following a 23-22 victory for England over Ireland in a gripping Six Nations clash, here’s our five takeaways from the game at Twickenham on Saturday.
A Test for the ages
Underdogs England shattered Ireland’s dream of a second successive Grand Slam at Twickenham as 81,238 raised the stadium roof as the hosts overcame the odds to claim victory with a last-gasp Marcus Smith drop-goal.
England were magnificent in attack, driven brilliantly by the absolutely outstanding Alex Mitchell at nine and supported by an immense personal effort from Ben Earl, who delivered one of the finest back-row displays in an England number eight shirt since the heady days of the likes of Dallaglio, Back and Hill.
Tries from Ollie Lawrence, George Furbank and Earl played two from Ireland‘s James Lowe, who yet again had an outstanding performance alongside Bundee Aki in the Irish three-quarter line. England’s indiscipline at ruck time cost them dearly in the first half as they fell foul of the whistle of referee Nika Amashukeli, who yet again played his part in delivering an incredible spectacle of attacking rugby.
For Ireland, it was a day of frustration where they failed to get a foothold in set-piece or breakdown, the food they crave to feed their brilliant attacking formations; for England it was a huge step in the right direction and one that underlined the progress they’re making.
Breathless and breathtaking
This was a Test match in every sense, with an atmosphere that simply rocked Twickenham from start to finish. Both sides should be commended for their ambition and sheer relentlessness with ball in hand or shoulder in defence and for Red Rose fans that have wanted to see more in attack from their men, England delivered and their supporters responded in kind, giving the stadium the atmosphere and engagement that the RFU so dearly crave for, and of course the result that underpins the improvement the teams has been seeking.
There was a thought that the replacement strategy might take an edge off England and although Danny Care ran on to a rapturous ovation, there’s no doubt both he and Elliot Daly initially took continuity and precision away from England’s brilliant first 60 minutes but as both men got Smith into the game the coach’s call was absolutely spot on as the fly-half hammered the final nail into the Irish coffin.
Earl shines
With more solidity at scrum and lineout time, the other beneficiary of the three lock approach is Earl, who is allowed a roving carrying role from the midfield, freed of commitment into the battle on the floor. Earl delivered yet another outstanding performance with ball in hand, making a mockery of those foolish to criticise his effectiveness as a number eight, a position where the benefits he brings far outweigh any thoughts of him being undersized.
The Saracen was immense all afternoon, carrying as well as anyone on the pitch and again his close-quarter power came to the fore as he crashed over for England’s third try after Peter O’Mahony was sin-binned for killing the ball after that man Earl had created havoc in midfield once more.
It’s worth pointing out England’s nuance here – on Ireland’s ball Earl scrummaged on the blindside to prevent an Irish switch move with Ollie Chessum stepping in at eight, using his blitz pace to close down the narrow side.
But it was in attack where Earl shone; 11 thundering carries for 101 metres (the most in the match) cut Ireland to ribbons time after time. Add in his jackaling and his try scoring and for once, the infamous Earl round of celebratory applause might be justified this evening.
England experiments
There’s a lot to be said for size on a rugby pitch and in that respect Steve Borthwick’s plan of getting his three big men in the same pack together was one of the foundations of England’s early pressure in the match. The impact of George Martin in particular cannot be underestimated and his sheer power into the breakdown and collision really upset the usually immaculate Irish ruck speed as he brought his own version of East Midlands chaos to an Irish side that normally thrives on their own chaotic shenanigans around the close quarters.
In the backline, Borthwick had encouraged Immanuel Feyi-Waboso to go searching for the ball and his interplay with Furbank was delightful at times, but Furbank is a man whose mental ambition sometimes outmatches his own handling ability and whilst at times he challenged the Irish defence with his pace, he needs to tighten up his defensive work.
However, his interplay with Martin and Maro Itoje to get around the outside of the Irish right wing demonstrated just how much he’s capable of bringing to this England side and his ambition was very much the heartbeat of England’s improvement in attack.
Power of Aki
Aki is the stuff of a fly-half’s nightmares and George Ford is no exception. If there’s one reason for Ireland’s ability to score tries in this match it was the sheer power of the inside centre crashing up the first and second receiver channel and creating havoc almost at will.
England’s blitz defence held on manfully but when the initial carry is taking two, three and sometimes four defenders to stop Aki’s charges, the numerical mismatch in terms of Irish support runners versus remaining England defenders gave Ireland real breathing space to get to the wide outside and around the rush line’s corner.
With Caelan Doris and Jamison Gibson-Park offering support options, run or pass, either side of his barnstorming runs, the damage that Aki did to the English 10/12 channel was palpable and something that perhaps the home side might have reacted to earlier by getting one of their back-rows into the primary defensive channel.
His work in carry created two of the Irish penalties and the Lowe try and his muscular presence has become one of the key weapons in Ireland’s go forward, and that’s before we even mention his work the other side of the ball in defence and steal. It took something really special from Ireland to get around England’s tiring defence for the second try by Lowe and once again we saw the fine balance of execution of the Felix Jones rush defence as England simply ran out of numbers in the wide channel as an exhausted Earl tried his best to get around in the boot to make the extra man.
Were Ireland the better side? On balance, probably not, but they had the mental reference points and experience to push England all the way in adversity as England threw everything at them in easily their most impressive display since the World Cup and arguably their most fluent attacking performance under Borthwick.
READ MORE: Steve Borthwick v Andy Farrell: England and Ireland bosses clash in heated half-time exchange
