Finished
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Ireland Grand Slam on track
Ireland maintained their challenge for a Six Nations Grand Slam with a 14-13 victory over an ill-disciplined England side More
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Live Commentary
Time:80'- Ireland
- England
80' England unable to break free and Ireland win 14-13 and maintain their challenge for a Grand Slam. Not a great game by any stretch of the imagination but Ireland did what they had to do. Thanks for joining us.
80' Goode lands conversion and England are 14-13 down with one play of the game left.
79' Nice offload Goode to Tindall and the centre makes 40 yards. Ball comes back and Goode grubbers ahead and Armitage wins race for touch down. Try England. Well played Goode. 14-11.
77' Another penalty against England - Hartley in from the side. This time no excuse for the Northampton hooker as O'Gara kicks Ireland down to England 22.
77' Narraway on for Easter. Not sure what the Gloucester player can do in four minutes.......- 75' England have five minutes left but insist on kicking the ball away every time. Tindall at least tries to counter but ball is then kicked away. Hartley unlucky to be caught in possession as ball ricochets into his path and concedes penalty.
- 70' England have 22 drop out but ref reverses decision for Care shoulder charge on Ferris. Scrum-half gets sin-binned and O'Gara kicks penalty. 14-6 Ireland and it's good night England. They have only themselves to blame after conceding another two yellow cards!
- 70' Kennedy is also off for Croft.
- 69' Best on for Flannery, and Leamy for Heaslip.
- 68' Cueto chips ahead but Bowe reads it well and counters - lovely pass to Fitzgerald almost puts the wing clear.
- 66' Stringer on for O'Leary, Hartley for Mears, Goode for Flood - and Vickery after his yellow. England back to 15 men.
- 64' Easter runs at Ireland midfield and earns a penalty as Paddy Wallace fails to roll away. Fortunate for England as David Wallace had stripped Easter of the ball. Ball handed to Armitage as it's a long way out and the full-back makes no mistake. 11-6 Ireland.
- 61' Lovely England move and Tait comes off his wing and almost breaks clear. England continue to attack but Care pass goes direct to touch. Good set move but Tait unable to find Flutey on his shoulder and Kearney tackle stops certain try.
- 59' Armitage takes high ball but is smashed back by Ferris and Ireland forwards drive over and earn a scrum down.
- 58' O'Gara misses conversion. Surely it's time for Ireland to change their kicker! Care on for Ellis and Tait on for Sackey.
- 56' Free-kick Ireland and Heaslip takes quick tap. England keep first few drives at bay but ball goes to O'Driscoll and it looks like the Ireland star has made it over the line. Ref goes to TMO, who awards try. 11-3 Ireland, who are rewarded for their patience.
55' O'Connell again wins throw, but England collapse drive. Vickery plays ball on the ground and gets a yellow for his troubles. That could cost England dear! Prop White is on as Ireland opt for a scrum and Haskell comes off. Eight man Ireland take on the seven men of England's scrum.- 53' Ireland opt to go for the corner and have a lineout 5m from England try-line. O'Connell wins throw and Ireland batter England's line. England concede penalty for not rolling away and ref warns Borthwick. Next time it will be a yellow. Ireland again opt for lineout to keep pressure on England.
- 52' Vickery again dispossesed in the tackle and Ireland almost break free through Fitzgerald. Ireland keep hold of the ball and O'Driscoll makes yards down the left wing, chips ahead and is taken out by Armitage. Penalty to Ireland in England's 22.
- 49' Rush defence from O'Driscoll and the Ireland skipper catches Armitage in possession. Ireland force turnover but again chose wrong option - should have spread the ball wide. Flutey takes out O'Driscoll and the Ireland skipper is down - was it late?
- 48' Easter runs at Ireland defence but Irish tacklers reverse momentum and win a scrum down.
- 45' Ireland work their way into an attacking position and O'Driscoll takes ball as first receiver and lands a superb drop goal to give his side the lead. 6-3. Smart play by the skipper.
- 44' Better kick from Ellis puts Ireland under pressure and Flood hacks through. O'Driscoll falls on the ball and stupidly Flood dives on top of him and concedes penalty for not letting the man get up. What is it with England and penalties? That was plain daft and a waste of an England chance!
- 41' Haskell concedes penalty immediately for playing ball in a ruck and O'Gara has chance to extend Ireland lead. But the fly-half hits the upright and Armitage clears up field. O'Leary puts pressure back on with nice touch finder into England's 22.
41' The teams are back out and O'Gara gets the second half started. Can Ireland find a better performance this half or will they freeze in the face of big England tackling? Huge test of character for the Ireland team.
40' Mmmm, not too many positives from that dour first half. Neither side playing well, but England are at least slowing down Ireland ball and stopping them from playing. Ireland look tense and perhaps the pressure is getting to them. Hopefully we'll have a better second 40 - it can hardly be any worse!- 40' Cueto slices kick to touch and Ireland have one last chance with lineout just outside England 22. But England win ball through Worsley and drive ball slowly downfield. Flood kicks to touch and ref blows for half-time.
- 39' Flood lands penalty and England draw level at 3-3. Reward for his earlier touch finder.
- 37' Lovely touch finder from Flood pins Ireland back into their 22. Can England pinch throw and get on the scoreboard before the break? O'Connell wins throw but drops it on the way down. England attack through Mears and earn penalty in front of posts for Ireland tacklers not rolling away.
- 35' Ireland on the attack now as they look to post another score before half-time. O'Connell breaks defence but O'Gara's chip ahead too long and Cueto touches down easily. Wasted opportunity by Ireland as England drop out long.
- 32' England put together series of promising attacks but kick the ball away aimlessly. Cueto tries to counter and when ball is recycled Vickery takes on Ireland defenders without any support and is penalised for holding on!
- 30' England had numbers over but Flood tried to pass out of the tackle, only for O'Driscoll to intercept. The centre was almost clear but stopped by an ankle tap from England skipper Borthwick. Kennedy strays offside and this time O'Gara makes England pay. 3-0 Ireland.
- 26' Great tackle O'Driscoll on Kennedy halts a dangerous England attack. Big play by the Ireland skipper.
- 22' O'Leary chips over the top and Fitzgerald catches Ellis in possession and the scrum-half concedes another penalty. Second chance for O'Gara but this time he pulls his effort. England lucky not to be 6-0 down!
- 20' Vickery penalised for binding on the arm at a scrum and O'Gara edges Ireland back into England half. More indiscipline from England wastes another good field position.
- 17' Smart chip over the top by O'Leary for Bowe to chase but Cueto was wise to it and gets back to touch down. Tidy defence from England's left wing.
- 16' Endless series of ping-pong kicks come to an end with a lovely touch finder from O'Gara into England's 22. But Kennedy wins throw and Ellis clears.
- 15' Half chance for England as O'Gara spills ball in tackle. Flutey almost clear but defence back to clear danger.
- 12' Ireland make ground slowly but ball is slow. Tindall tackles O'Connell but fails to roll away and O'Gara has first chance on goal. But the fly-half fails to land his shot on goal.
- 9' Series of pick and drives from Ireland but they go nowhere and concede penalty. But Flood misses touch and allows Kearney to kick back downfield. England return the kick and Bowe launches counter. Another penalty by England for Vickery knocking ball out of O'Leary's hands. O'Gara kicks for touch in England 22.
- 8' England defence is fierce and Ireland spill ball and concede possession. But Ellis's box kick goes straight out Ireland have another lineout just outside England 22.
- 6' Great tackle Worsley on Heaslip. Ireland find touch but ball was passed back into 22 and England have lineout 20m from Ireland try-line. But O'Connell pinches throw and Ireland clear lines. Cueto gathers Irish kick ahead but he's caught in possession and concedes penalty, which O'Gara kicks to England 22 line.
- 4' England win short lineout and spread ball wide to Worsley, Tindall showing good hands. But Irish defence is solid and they force turnover for scrum on their 22.
- 2' Early touch for Armitage who gathers a high ball and runs back at the Irish tacklers. England recycle and take the game to Ireland. Irish forwards come in from the side of ruck and concede penalty, which Flood kicks down to Ireland 22.
- 1' O'Leary puts up an early box kick, Tindall gathers but is well tackled by O'Driscoll. Ireland pressure England and make a good start.
1' Flood gets the game underway. Can England show better discipline and give Ireland a decent game?
- There are a few clouds above Croke but thankfully no sign of rain. This is a brilliant rugby occasion made all the better by rousing renditions of the Irish anthems.- - The teams are out on the pitch and there is a fantastic atmosphere in Croke. They say the whole of Ireland are watching this game to cheer on Brian O'Driscoll's side in their attempt to make it three from three in the championship and keep alive that elusive Grand Slam.
- - If, and it's a very big if, England win by 11 points today then they will take over at the top of the Six Nations table.
- - England were much improved in Cardiff from their below-par opener against Italy and they will need to up their game again if they want to stand a chance of beating a good Ireland team. But Ireland are no always comfortable with the favourites tag and it will be interesting to see how they cope with the pressure.
- - Incidentally, Flood becomes the sixth English fly-half to play against Ireland in the past six years and the Leicester Tiger will be desperate to put in a decent performance and make the number 10 shirt his won.
- - England manager Martin Johnson has made just one change to the side that went down 23-15 in Cardiff, with Toby Flood coming in at fly-half for Andy Goode, who drops down to the bench. Fit-again scrum-half Danny Care returns to the squad on the bench with Paul Hodgson making way for the Harlequin.
- - Prop John Hayes wins his 92nd cap to equal Malcolm OÂ’Kelly's all-time record, while skipper Brian O'Driscoll wins his 91st cap. Joining that trio today in the elusive 90-club is fly-half Ronan O'Gara, who will be looking to exert his usual control over proceedings.
- - Ireland remain the only unbeaten side in the championship after WalesÂ’ loss in Paris last night and are in good shape to overcome another hurdle on the way to a possible Grand Slam. Decent wins over France and Italy have given coach Declan Kidney a settled start to his tenure and he has shown faith in his players by naming an unchanged side.
- - And so to the Croke Park and the long-awaited showdown between in-form Ireland and, well, an England team going through a difficult process of rebuilding that seems to have lasted forever.
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Summary
Ireland versus England O'Driscoll 58’ Tries Armitage 79’ Conversions Goode 79’ O'Gara 30’, 71’ Penalties Flood 39’, Armitage 65’ O'Driscoll 45’ Drops
Live Team Line-Up
- Referee: M.. Joubert
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IrelandManager: Declan Kidney
On the Field
- Horan
- Flannery
- Hayes
- O'Callaghan
- O'Connell
- Ferris
- Wallace
- Heaslip
- O'Leary
- O'Gara
- Fitzgerald
- Wallace
- O'Driscoll
- Bowe
- Kearney
Subs
- Murphy
- D'Arcy
- O'Driscoll
- Stringer
- Leamy
- Best
- Court
Injured
None
Suspended
None
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EnglandManager: Martin Johnson
On the Field
- Sheridan
- Mears
- Vickery
- Borthwick
- Kennedy
- Haskell
- Worsley
- Easter
- Ellis
- Flood
- Cueto
- Flutey
- Tindall
- Sackey
- Armitage
Subs
- White
- Goode
- Tait
- Hartley
- Narraway
- Croft
- Care
Injured
None
Suspended
None
O' Driscal is amazing he's a great captain.
Ha Ha England it looks like the celts win once again.
Time for martin johnson to go i liked him as a player but as a manager he is useless when will england get somebody that can find touch when kicking for touch toby flood is not up to it and as for the irish to say that england singled out BOD for physical treatment dont make me laugh,johnny wilkinson use to get it all the time but got on with it rugby is a hard game you get hit get up and get on with it.
well now i enjoyed the game very much.was watching it in an irish pub in berlin.ireland have played very well during this six nations and they deserve to win.lets hope also the grand slam. goodluck ireland!!!!!!!!!!!
That johnson is only a limey thug,must hurt him badly that his side were beaten by the country that hates him the most!.
Ireland for the grand slam!
werybrit you're a dirty english @#$%.
That grand slam is getting greener & greener all the time,hah
come on IRELAND!I am waiting for an apology. Irish were right English were wrong yet once again.
England lost again through bad discipline. 14 players cannot take on 15 for long, especially of the quality of the Irish team. England have to stop cheating, but Martin Johnson was one of the biggest cheats in the game so how can he hope to lead them?
lol we invented this sport but forgot the rules. maybe we should change some of the team to players who havent taken to many head shoots.what a bunch of idiots. irland were rubish and there for the taking and we couldent even do that.
Martin Johnson has his work cut out coaching a school type team. Wot a shambles again.
england come on dose not matter
nice one talk about an incredabily tight score though. but all the same woo hoo
the fat lady sings.
how can crc call us english retards when they are all over here fron his country what a narrow mind some people have
So final score looks like " yellow cards to nil. When will we get some discipline into our team, it's like watching Italy at times?
They think it's all over...
Trust the Micks to be sore winners. Not only no magnanimity but couldn't even spell it.
sorry for doubtin ya rog
umm eranu, mayb not the best 2 teams in the world but better than england arent they!!!
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