England 15 - Ireland 24: Irish clinch historic Grand Slam
JACOB STOCKDALE set a new Six Nations try-scoring record as his killer score propelled Ireland to only the third Grand Slam in their history and left England in freefall after their third successive defeat.
The Ulster’s flier’s seventh try of a dream debut championship propelled Ireland into rugby nirvana as they followed the classes of 1948 and 2009 in completing the clean sweep.
The manner in which they did so left England staring into the abyss after a collapse in results and performance which would have been unthinkable a month ago.
It was England’s first home defeat since the 2015 World Cup and there are echoes of that sudden evaporation in the decline and fall of Eddie Jones’s empire.
Only one away team had ever previously clinched the Grand Slam on English soil – France in 1981 – but if Ireland would rather have completed it in front of their own fans at the Aviva Stadium then Twickenham was turned into a mini-Dublin in closing stages as the strains of The Fields of Athenry swept around the stadium.
The race was effectively run by half time as Ireland galloped into a 21-5 half time lead.
Joe Schmidt’s side were clinical in their execution, taking every chance that came their way with some precise finishing.
It was an unhappy afternoon for Anthony Watson who limped off before the break having coughed up a high ball to present Garry Ringrose with Ireland’s first try inside six minutes. Rob Kearney appeared to get a hand to the ball in the air as he challenged the England full-back but the Leinster centre was first on the scene to pick up the pieces.
CJ Stander followed him over the line – or more precisely to the base of the post – in the 24th minute, reaching out to touch the upright after Bundee Aki had split the England midfield after an intricate fake runaround play.
It was a rare moment of invention in a fractured half littered with scrum resets with England again their worst enemies with their indiscipline with Maro Itoje a regular culprit.
Jones’s mass shake-up had an effect – but only in creating confusion in a stilted England. One clearance kick by Owen Farrell ended up ricocheting off James Haskell’s scrum cap. They eventually got their act together with Ireland shorthanded after Peter O’Mahony’s sin-binning to score through Elliot Daly after a chip through by Owen Farrell.
But in injury time Conor Murray produced a lovely deft pass to set Ireland wing Jacob Stockdale free down the left and the 21-year-old showed his poacher’s instinct with a chip and chase over Mike Brown to touch down just inside the blue snowproof dead ball line.
The deficit left England with no choice but to come out firing and they did – but the visitors were calm under the onslaught with Keith Earls saving Ireland’s bacon with a cover tackle on Daly.
Ireland stretched their lead to 24-5 on the hour through Conor Murray as England’s penalty count continued to rise. They were audibly frustrated with referee Angus Gardner but some of the offences were so dumb that they were their own worst enemies.
Daly narrowed the gap with his second try with 15 minutes left after a neat back-of-the-hand pass by Brown but though Jonny May crossed with time up for a consolation, the comeback was beyond them.
The Slam that started with Johnny Sexton’s miracle drop goal in France was completed with mass sprint towards Farrell's failed conversion.
England looked on disconsolate as Ireland, meticulously coached and brilliantly directed by Murray, celebrated a golden moment in their history.
England are a team in turmoil; Ireland a team in ecstasy.