Henry Slade double sees England stun favourites Ireland in Six Nations opener
Relive all the action from the Six Nations clash at the Aviva Stadium
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Your support makes all the difference.England stunned reigning Six Nations champions Ireland 32-20 to take a giant step towards reclaiming their crown with a first win in Dublin for six years.
Leading 17-13 in an epic opening-weekend title showdown that lived up to expectations, they engineered the decisive moment in the 66th minute when Henry Slade and Jonny May combined brilliantly from a scrum for Slade to touch down.
It was a try made possible by the pace of May, who along with Jack Nowell on the opposite wing was magnificent throughout an afternoon of drama and high-quality rugby.
Owen Farrell was on target with a penalty to put the game beyond Ireland's reach as the Aviva Stadium was stormed for the first time in the Six Nations since 2013, securing Eddie Jones' 29th win in 36 Tests.
Joe Schmidt's Grand Slam champions fell apart in the closing stages, enabling Slade to plunder his second try, before replacement John Cooney restored some scoreboard credibility in the final seconds.
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31 mins: Yesterday it was Yoann Huget, today it's Jacob Stockdale. The wing looks to have read a chip in behind as the ball goes over the try line, but the bounce fools him and as he gets his hand to the ball Nowell is in to make the tackle. The ball comes loose and the first to react is Elliot Daly to touch down and put England back in front. Farrell converts and England are back in the lead. 10-14
Here's how England went ahead in the second minute with Jonny May's try:
It's been a brutal one so far...
Henry Slade tackles Ireland flanker Josh van der Flier
37 mins: Farrell puts a smart kick in behind on the blindside off the lineout and Slade and May are in pursuit. Henshaw gets back in time and despite being tackled by May, does brilliantly to not go back over his try line. Ireland kick away and miss touch, with Billy Vunipola running it back with glee. England come right and their knocking on the door again, but Nowell tries to run over Earls out wide and the defence is there to shove him into touch.
38 mins: Oh no. With the pressure on about five metres out, Best gets his throw wrong as it's crooked, and England have a 5m scrum. A big opportunity this right before half-time.
40 mins: Phase after phase after phase...England are camped on the line...they have penalty advantage...they think they've scored! It looks like Mako Vunipola and we're going to the TMO...
40 mins: The question is that there's a clear grounding, but is there a double-movement...
40 mins: NO TRY! Vunipola is judged to have been grounded and it's chalked off, but England have a penalty and they'll go for posts to take points before the break.
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