England left kicking themselves after Ireland loss as Red Roses miss big opportunity

Maro Itoje and ’s new dawn proved a false one on another dark day in Dublin for the Red Roses.

Three bits of magic from wing James Lowe proved the difference between the two sides as England again lost a game they could have won.

The result was harsh on Itoje, who had an immense game in his first as skipper, and England they will be kicking themselves all the way home on Sunday. This was a chance missed.

There were big displays from centre Ollie Lawrence and Tom and Ben Curry whilst Alex Mitchell showed how much England missed him in the autumn at scrum-half.

Defensively, England came to the party until the final quarter when Lowe ran riot to win the game and get Ireland’s bid for a third title on the spin off to a flyer.

But Steve Borthwick’s men did escape with a bonus point thanks to late scores from Tom Curry and Tommy Freeman – but they could have had more.

England were bang in the game at 13-10 down with 16 minutes left when Lowe made the match-breaking interventions.

His burst through the middle and feed for lock Tadhg Beirne, plus Jack Crowley’s conversion put Ireland 10 points ahead before he made another score for Dan Sheehan.

An Ireland side missing the motivational expertise of Andy Farrell, who is on Lions duty, were right there for the taking but England were not up to it.

And it won’t get any easier with Antoine Dupont and his French side arriving at Twickenham on Saturday fresh from walloping Wales 43-0 on Friday.

Borthwick’s side have talked a good talk for the last year which, before this trip to Ireland, had seen them lose seven out of 12 games.

The only notable win in that time was the 23-22 victory over Ireland at Twickenham but every other game against a big side has had the same theme. Close, but no cigar. By the end, this one was not even close.

The masterplan devised by Borthwick was to try and run Ireland off their feet and, with Itoje looking like a man possessed England flew out of the blocks to lead 10-5 at the break.

The first 40 minutes was the best half of rugby England have produced under Borthwick since the 2023 World Cup semi-final against South Africa and had Ireland rocking.

One half break from Marcus Smith came to nothing when wing Tommy Freeman got snared up but they were soon on the board.

But Harlequins wing Cadan Murley, on his debut, got on the end of Henry Slade’s cute grubber kick to touch down and England were off and running.

Ireland had a touchdown from hooker Ronan Kelleher ruled out and Mitchell’s try suffered the same fate as the sides went toe-to-toe. Itoje’s side were warned for persistent infringements and Smith soon took one for the team when he was binned for being offside with the Irish turning up the heat.

England’s defence, with Freeman and Itoje both making try-saving tackles, held firm but it gave when Alex Mitchell missed Lowe and the wing fed scrum-half Jamison Gibson-Park rounded Freddie Steward to score. But Smith was back in time to extend England’s lead just before half-time.

Ireland’s green machine started to motor in the second half but a rampaging Kelleher was turned over by George Martin on the England line and a solid scrum let Mitchell clear the lines.

England were hanging on but Ireland levelled on 51 minutes when centre Bundee Aki burst through Smith, Mitchell and Freeman to score in the corner.

Sam Prendergast made up for two missed conversions by banging over a penalty after 55 minutes when Itoje was harshly pinged by ref Ben O’Keefe.

Then came Lowe to make Beirne’s score and another for replacement hooker Sheehan when he danced through the England defence. That was game over and another poor Six Nations looms for Borthwick.

Scorers:

Ireland: Tries: Gibson-Park, Aki, Beirne, Sheehan; Cons: Crowley (2); Pen: Prendergast

England: Tries: Murley, T.Curry, Freeman; Cons: M.Smith (2); Pen: M.Smith