England vs Ireland LIVE: Six Nations 2022 result and final score as Ireland win after early England red card
England 15-32 Ireland: Six Nations 2022 live updates as Ireland stay in tournament title hunt after battling past 14-man England at Twickenham
Follow live coverage as Ireland overcome a valiant, 14-man England in an extraordinary Six Nations clash at Twickenham to keep their title hopes alive heading into Super Saturday.
Ireland took full advantage of a red card for England lock Charlie Ewels after less than two minutes to claim a bonus-point 32-15 victory that keeps them in the hunt for the title.
Ewels was sent off for a head-on-head tackle on Ireland second row James Ryan - the fastest dismissal since the championship began in 1883 - and led 15-9 at half-time after tries for James Lowe and Hugo Keenan.
Amid a feverish atmosphere England hit back superbly, smashing the Irish scrum, and levelled the scores with two Marcus Smith penalties, but Ireland finished strongly, pulling clear with another Sexton penalty and then tries by Jack Conan and Finlay Bealham that earned a potentially key bonus point.
France top the standings on 18 points after winning their first four games. Ireland have 16 and could still take their first title since 2018 with victory or possibly even a draw against Scotland in Dublin next week if England can upset France in Paris.
Follow all the reaction and analysis from Twickenham:
Farewell!
That just about does us for our LIVE coverage of the penultimate weekend of the 2022 Six Nations. Just two teams remain in the hunt for the title, with France’s Grand Slam hopes kept alive by victory in Cardiff, and Ireland eventually making a player advantage count to secure a bonus point win at Twickenham. Scotland’s scratchy win in Rome leaves them level on points with England.
On to Super Saturday! Clear your Saturday schedule and get ready to settle in for an afternoon and evening of almost uninterrupted rugby, all culminating in the city of lights on Saturday night as France seek a chelem in the Stade de France. We’ll have plenty of reaction and analysis to this weekend’s action over the next couple of days, and then all of the build-up to the final round.
Ta-ta!
England suffer Six Nations defeat to Ireland after early red card for Charlie Ewels
England 15-32 Ireland: Ewels sent off after just 82 seconds at Twickenham but England battled hard and only lost in final ten minutes
Courtney Lawes continues...
“We lost a few territory battles which hurt us a bit, and swung the momentum. We were playing with 14 men for most of the game - it is tough, but we never gave up, and put everything into the game. We came up short because of a bit of accuracy but we can learn from that.
“Ireland are obviously a very good team, very very organised. They are one of the best teams for knowing what each other are going to do and playing little tips to each other. We wanted to disrupt them and we did that. We can be proud of what we did.”
Courtney Lawes on England’s reshuffle after Charlie Ewels was sent off
“It’s tough work in the row, I’m not going to lie. Obviously I can play second row, and Nowell is basically a flanker anyway, so we were flying in the scrum.”
Ellis Genge and Jamie George certainly thought so.
Eddie Jones
“No-one proportions blame on [Charlie Ewels]. It was a genuine attempt to make a tackle he just got his head in the wrong place.
“Kyle Sinckler has got concussion, but Tom Curry is looking a little worse for wear.”
Jones suggests that Curry is almost certainly out of the final England game against France.
Eddie Jones reacts to England’s defeat
“Great spirit, great tactical discipline. There was about 15 to go, 15-all, we are controlling the game, and we just made a couple of mistakes that allowed them into the game. I couldn’t be prouder of them. It’s a great learning experience. The young guys adapted really well.
“I’m a bit disappointed the referee didn’t allow us to scrum fully. That would be my only complaint. We got four [six] scrum penalties and we didn’t get a yellow card. We are disappointed we didn’t get more out of that.”
Johnny Sexton on Ireland’s business next week
“We’ve got a chance to win a Triple Crown at home in the Aviva. It’s a big week ahead of us. We’ll learn plenty and it’ll be all focussed on Scotland.”
Johnny Sexton on Ireland’s win
“I’m happy with the team, the way we kept our composure even when things were going against us. We’d have snapped your hand off for five points before the game.
“Lots of matches that I’ve played in over my career have been bizarre. That was a good Test match. You are never going to come here and have an easy game. It is an incredibly tough place to come, and when you come here, you have to play your best. Probably a mixed performances by ourselves. We got our rewards with a couple of tries at the end which will be really important in the championship race.”
Ireland’s discipline issues go unpunished
The final tally is 15 penalties against Ireland, eight against England. Could the visitors have received a yellow? They were under the pump at scrum time, but Mathieu Raynal was content with a warning.
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