Party’s over for Ireland

Without a platform to speak of, Ireland’s game unravelled, especially in the second half, when the home side cashed in on their superiority. How sweet for them to rediscover the feeling of bullying opponents at Twickenham.

If England had momentum from last weekend’s win in Paris, they also had the perfect start in the constant drizzle — an Irish knock forward, a great hit at the first scrum that caused an Irish collapse and Farrell banging over a slightly wobbly penalty from 40 metres.

This wasn’t the prelude to a period of English dominance, however, as the visitors brought an intensity and aggression to the game, attacking with verve down David Strettle’s wing in particular. First Keith Earls latched on to a well-weighted pass from Rory Best, only for Tommy Bowe to mistime his support line. Then an attacking lineout was spoiled when an English paw dislodged the ball from Donnacha Ryan’s grasp.

There was further disappointment for the visitors as Rob Kearney saw a 50-metre drop goal attempt rebound off the upright, but they soon had their reward. A well-placed bomb by Jonathan Sexton was fumbled by Ben Foden and then picked up by Brad Barritt in an offside position — three softish points for Sexton and the game was level.

Ireland were looking the more dangerous side but amid all the errors — and there were many — England could draw comfort from the fact that every scrum meant an opportunity for them. It was clear early on that Ross was in trouble with a shoulder problem. The fact that he stayed on the pitch until the 36th minute says something of Ireland’s dependence on him.

Sure enough, England’s second penalty came courtesy of a set-piece infringement, with Eoin Reddan unwisely shoeing the ball out of England’s back row just as his pack had managed a counter-shove. Farrell was again on target and already it looked as though we were in for a diet of penalty kicks.

Yes, the ball was greasy but some of the mistakes were unacceptable. Gordon D’Arcy’s slicing and fluffing of the ball were the result of poor technique as much as anything else. If this was frustrating, Ireland were also aggrieved that Stephen Ferris was allegedly bitten on the hand, but they couldn’t transform that grievance into scores.

Instead, we had Morgan galloping away from a scrum nicked against the head. England then pinched another, allowing Barritt to truck up the middle and earn a penalty, this time for offside at the ruck. Farrell did the needful and Ross finally accepted defeat, making way for Tom Court.

That England’s next scrum went backwards raised temporary questions about their previous dominance. But Ireland’s missed opportunities continued to mount up. They watched in horror as an attacking maul was spoiled, with Dylan Hartley spinning away in possession and then hoofing the ball downfield. At least Sexton took three points back on the stroke of half-time, set up for him by a ferocious piece of counter-rucking by Ryan. So it finished 9-6 at the end of the worst 40 minutes of the championship.

It didn’t get much better after the break. The players re-emerged with new jerseys but the same mistakes. Lee Dickson’s fate was more or less decided when he fumbled yet another scrum won against the head. Within minutes he was taken off.

He wasn’t the only scrum-half having problems. An ill- directed box-kick by Reddan led to a rare fluid piece of counterattacking, with Croft again showing his searing pace on the outside break. How he will regret opting to pass inside, for he lost control at the vital moment and saw the ball fly forward.

At least England recaptured a six-point lead from the territory they had gained, and soon Farrell was beginning to turn the screw. His delicate chip into the right corner had Tomas O’Leary dithering — to kick, to pass or to let the ball run over the try line? In the end he was simply gobbled up and conceded the five-metre scrum. Fatal for his side.

It took England two attempts to close the deal, with Tom Palmer believing he had scored, only for the television match official to judge that referee Nigel Owens had whistled just before the critical moment. But the inevitable wasn’t long coming, Court ending up on his back as Owens ran under the posts to signal the penalty try.

From there, it was simply a matter of how much England would win by. Another scrum penalty and they were 22-9 up, and Irish supporters were willing the clock to run down. But there was still time for Ben Youngs to scamper over from short range to complete the rout. By the end, even the normally dependable Kearney was flapping and fumbling. A breakout by Earls gave hope of a late consolation but again Ireland failed to close the deal. Farrell then slotted one more penalty, just to rub their noses in it.

Star man: Owen Farrell (England)

Scorers: England: Tries: penalty try 58, Youngs 73 Con: Farrell Pens: Farrell (6) Ireland: Pens: Sexton (3) Scoring sequence: (England first): 3-0, 3-3, 6-3, 9-3, 9-6, 12-6, 12-9 19-9, 22-9, 27-9, 30-9

Referee: N Owens (Wales)

Attendance: 81,782

England: B Foden (Brown 70min); C Ashton, M Tuilagi, B Barritt, D Strettle; O Farrell, L Dickson (B Youngs 48min); A Corbisiero, D Hartley (M Stevens 74min), D Cole (L Mears 74min), M Botha (T Palmer 55min), G Parling, T Croft, C Robshaw (capt), B Morgan (P Dowson 74min).

Ireland: R Kearney; T Bowe, K Earls, G D'Arcy (R O’Gara 48min), A Trimble (F McFadden 74min); J Sexton, E Reddan (T O’Leary 48min); C Healy, R Best (capt, S Cronin 74min), M Ross (T Court 36min), D O’Callaghan (M McCarthy 66min), D Ryan, S Ferris, S O'Brien (P O’Mahony 69min), J Heaslip.

Kidney: 'It's extremely painful'

Ireland coach Declan Kidney was understandably downbeat after his side’s 30-9 defeat against England at Twickenham yesterday.

“We are disappointed for everybody, for our supporters. We wanted to represent them to the best of our ability. But we fell shy of that today and that is something we are not proud of,” said Kidney, inset. “It’s extremely painful. You don’t like losing, don’t like losing 30-9 and you don’t like losing to England on St Patrick’s Day, but all credit to them.”

He said the match had turned when Ireland tighthead prop Mike Ross went off shortly before half-time. “It was something that was on the cards. We don’t have a huge number of Irish guys with tighthead experience,” Kidney said. “In the Wales game it was a thin line but today we were well and comprehensively beaten and we have to put our hands up for that. We are disappointed to just get the two wins and a draw. Rugby is a simple game. If your scrum is in trouble, you are not going to have a good day.”

Ireland’s captain Rory Best also pinpointed his team’s troubles in the scrum as the key area where the game had been lost. “We did not get a platform for our backs,” he admitted. “We had a hiding from them right from the first scrum. They got a hold of us and didn’t let us go. You are not going to win an international when your scrum is under that sort of pressure.

“That second-half performance simply was not us. This team has more character than we showed in the second half. Our scrum was not good enough. It cost us the game and there is no point in trying to hide from that. They destroyed us up there.”

The contrast with victorious England coach Stuart Lancaster could not have been more stark as he hailed an ‘outstanding’ performance by his England team. “I said from the outset that there was a long-term plan and that involved giving young players experience,” Lancaster said. “A lot was made of the team’s lack of experience but I believe that a lot more should be made of the team’s self-belief. The players believe in the direction we’re going.”

Asked about his future as England coach — he is expected to be interviewed for the full-time post this week — he said it was “for others to decide”. However, he added: ‘If you had told me a few years ago that I would have been walking around Twickenham in front of 82,000 spectators, applauding people with a great group of guys, I would have taken that.”

Delighted England’s man-of-the-match, No 8 Ben Morgan, said: “Performing like that against a tought side is incredible. We’ve shown how much potential we’ve got and credit to Stuart for creating the environment to showcase what we can do.”