England 23-22 Ireland
Ireland's shot at making history at Twickenham went up in flames in a dramatic and heartbreaking finale for Andy Farrell's side.
With penalty advantage and the clock in the red, England's replacement out-half Marcus Smith slotted a close-range drop goal to leave the visitors utterly shell-shocked.
Italy's victory over Scotland in Rome meant that a win of any kind for Ireland in London would secure a second consecutive Six Nations crown and leave them still on course for that never before achieved back to back Grand Slam triumph, with the Scots to come to Dublin next Saturday.
READ MORE:Andy Farrell and Steve Borthwick in heated argument during England v Ireland in Six Nations
With eight minutes to go, James Lowe's second try of the evening put them in the driving seat to do just that.
Yet this England team, well beaten by the Scots a week earlier, really turned up and they spoiled the party in what was a thrilling encounter.
In doing so, they prevented the men in green from overtaking them on a record 12 championship victories on the spin.
This setback will be hard for Farrell - who exchanged words with his England counterpart Steve Borthwick as the half-time whistle went - and for his players to stomach, especially as they ultimately lost the game in the dying seconds.
But England deserve every bit of credit for an utterly committed display in defence and attack that made this Ireland team look human for the first time since the World Cup quarter-final loss to New Zealand.
And so the championship goes into the final weekend with Ireland four points clear of England, who travel to Lyon to face France next Saturday night.
Jack Crowley kicked Ireland into a second minute lead as the hosts were forced offside by a clever break by Josh van der Flier and Tadhg Furlong.
Business as usual, then, but England had come to play and they struck back with the game's opening try just five minutes later.
Calvin Nash lined up Tommy Freeman for a big hit but almost knocked himself out in the process.
The visitors were caught short in numbers on the blindside and quickly moved the ball to Ollie Lawrence on the touchline via George Ford and George Furbank.
Lawrence brushed off Crowley's last-ditch tackle and charged in at the corner. Ford's conversion was wide as Nash came off for a HIA and was replaced by Ciarán Frawley, a change that was made permanent a few minutes later.
Hugo Keenan brilliantly tapped the restart back on his side and, switching it rapidly, Ireland found space on the left.
Crowley and Sheehan combined but there was no way through for Lowe and, as England dialled up their blitz defence, the Red Rose earned a scrum as Dan Sheehan passed forward.
England got another early win from the set-piece as Furlong collapsed the scrum.
Van der Flier came up with a big turnover eight metres from his own line, then Tadhg Beirne produced a superb tackle to rob Alex Mitchell of possession as England kept coming.
The pressure told in the form of a ruck penalty for the hosts and Ford made it 8-3.
But England themselves conceded two penalties in their own half and a frenetic opening quarter ended with Crowley's tap over penalty to reduce the deficit to two points.
The pace was relentless. Ford's drop-goal attempt was blocked by the excellent van der Flier, then Caelan Doris was pinged for offside and Ford kicked for the corner.
Sheehan's tackle on Ben Earl denied the No.8 a try off a superbly worked line-out before, in the 25th minute, Lawrence thought he was in under the posts for his second try.
The centre's grubber kick caused havoc as Frawley and Furbank fought for the ball, it squirted loose and Lawrence pounced - but the replays showed that Furbank had knocked on.
A let off for Ireland and another was to follow on the half hour when Ford missed the posts when Robbie Henshaw was penalised for offside.
And, somehow, it was the visitors who went in at the break 9-8 ahead as Crowley just about snuck a penalty just over from 45 metres off an Aki turnover.
A booming Lowe clearance was just taken into touch in his 22 by Furbank and Forde and Ollie Chessum were caught offside, allowing Crowley to make it a four-point game at half-time.
A Crowley knock-on started the second half on a bad note for Ireland but he more than made up for it as the men in green conjured up a wonderful 44th minute try.
Keenan won the aerial battle off a Jamison Gibson-Park box-kick, Furlong found Crowley and the out-half's delay was crucial in beating England's rush defence.
Bundee Aki, Henshaw and Frawley moved it wide before Lowe dived in at the corner to evade Forde's tackle. Crowley missed the conversion for a 17-8 lead.
If Ireland had hopes of pulling away then they were quickly brought back down to earth as their defence went missing on their right flank and, with a three against one overlap, Maro Itoje fed Furbank to saunter over.
Ford missed his third kick at the posts to leave four between them again.
Frawley came off for a HIA in the 51st minute that he subsequently failed and Conor Murray's arrival saw Gibson-Park move to the wing.
But Ireland had promising field position in England's 22 but couldn't capitalise and, off a Sheehan throw in midfield, the home side won crucial possession.
Earls took off on the charge and his team-mates swiftly followed and Peter O'Mahony felt he had no choice but to illegally kill the move at the ruck.
It led to a 58th minute yellow card and England scored soon after anyway - with Ireland's defence stretched to the limit, Earls deserved his try and Smith tapped over.
Suddenly England were three points ahead and a titanic final quarter beckoned.
O'Mahony's place was taken by Ryan Baird when his 10 minutes in the bin was up.
Ireland's bench wasn't having its usual big impact but the game turned their side's way again with eight minutes remaining.
One of those replacements, Iain Henderson, won a vital turnover penalty just inside his own half and Crowley found a magnificent touch deep in England's 22.
Henderson kept the attack alive, then Gibson-Park's lightning fast pass allowed Lowe to put the afterburners on. Smith had no chance of stopping him.
Crowley's tough conversion attempt was well wide so Ireland held a vulnerable two-point lead.
Henderson found himself unable to escape from the bottom of a ruck one metre inside England's half and Elliot Daly stepped up to take aim.
A successful kick would have edged his side back in front with four minutes to go but his attempt drifted just to the right and wide.
But the job wasn't finished yet and Ireland were forced to scramble in defence.
They managed to do so successfully until the last minute when their Grand Slam dream went up in smoke.
England won one penalty advantage in their opponents' 22, then another closer to the posts and Smith had the luxury of knocking over a nerveless drop goal over the posts for a famous win.
England: Furbank, Feyi-Waboso, Slade (Daly 65), Lawrence, Freeman; Ford (Smith 58) Mitchell (Care 66); Genge (Stuart 53), George (Dan 53), Cole (Marler 53), Itoje, Martin, Chessum (Dombrandt 66), Underhill (Cunningham-South 60), Earl.
Ireland: Keenan, Nash (Frawley 5, Murray 51), Henshaw, Aki, Lowe, Crowley, Gibson-Park; Porter (Healy 72), Sheehan (Kelleher 61), Furlong (Bealham 61), McCarthy (Henderson 61), Beirne, O'Mahony, van der Flier (Conan 61), Doris.
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