A spirited first half defensive display was insufficient for England to record a first victory in Dublin since 2019, with the team in white ultimately flattered by the 27-22 scoreline.
England arrived in Dublin on the back of six defeats in eight matches, having only beaten Japan since their famous 23-22 Twickenham triumph over Ireland last March.
Ireland meanwhile were also under pressure, having seen their erstwhile aura of dominance crumble after their 23-13 home defeat to New Zealand. Nevertheless, the hosts, as two-time defending champions, were firm favourites.
Seemingly roused by their much-vaunted new captain, Maro Itoje, England took an early lead as debutant Cadan Murley capitalised on a delicious grubber kick from the magical Marcus Smith to dot down in the corner.
Ireland thought they had responded through Ronan Kelleher but Itoje successfully remonstrated with the referee in a sufficiently polite manner that the try was disallowed and England remained in the ascendancy. Much has been made of Itoje’s polite and unruffled demeanour in the media and his ability to navigate the fine line between dissent, so frowned upon in rugby, and getting his point across augurs positively for England in future.
Nevertheless, Ireland eventually broke English resistance after winger James Lowe breached an Alex Mitchell tackle to eventually set-up fellow Kiwi-born livewire scrum-half Gibson-Park.
Though Smith kicked a penalty at halftime to give England a 10-5 lead at the break, England’s first half defensive resistance was evidently energy sapping as Ireland were utterly dominant in the second half.
Tries from the rambunctious Bundee Aki, Tadhg Bernie and Dan Sheehan meant by the 76th minute, Ireland had scored 22 unanswered points and led 27-10.
England, only from this hopeless position, showcased their attacking verve, missing since the Murley opener, to score twice through flanker Tom Curry and winger Tommy Freeman.
Whilst from an English perspective it was exasperating to see another lead vanish, the mini-fightback was encouraging, not least because it enabled England to gain a losing bonus point, potentially crucial considering how the Championship is projected to be hotly contested this year.
Next week England host in-form France at Twickenham whilst Ireland travel to Murrayfield to do battle with perennial underachievers, Scotland.
“USO – Saracens – 20151213 – Maro Itoje” by Clément Bucco-Lechat is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.