England favourites after fortress Dublin falls
England are in pole position after winning their first Six Nations match against Ireland in Dublin for ten years.
Owen Farrell kicked all of England’s points to claim a 12-6 victory in the pouring rain, helped by a string of handling errors from the Irish.
Farrell gave England a second-minute lead and spent much of the match kicking, as did Ireland’s Jonathan Sexton before he was replaced by O’Gara due to injury.
O’Gara drew the scores level just before the hour after England’s James Haskell was sent to the sin bin for kicking the ball away illegally.
But Ireland had little chance to take advantage of the extra man as Farrell put over two more penalties to restore his side’s six-point lead.
It was the first England victory in a Six Nations encounter in Dublin since 2003, when Martin Johnson’s team destroyed Ireland, going on to win a first Grand Slam and then the World Cup.
England are now the only unbeaten team left in the tournament and they face France next. The French are reeling from back-to-back defeats and England will be the overwhelming favourites to win a second championship.
It was a massive game and I’m really excited to come over here and get stuck into the game. Owen Farrell
Farrell said:”It was a massive game and I’m really excited to come over here and get stuck into the game. The conditions weren’t great but we rolled our sleeves up and got stuck in.
“The weather wasn’t great but the little things helped you along and I thought we did the little things well out there.”
England coach Stuart Lancaster said: “I thought the way we managed the sin-bin period was critical and we deserved the win. I’m chuffed for the maturity of the whole team.”