Ireland dismantle sorry England

Ireland have picked up their second win of the Guinness Men’s Six Nations, comfortably beating England 42–21 at Allianz Stadium.

England have now lost two in a row in this year's tournament following last week’s dismal defeat against Scotland in the Calcutta Cup. Jack Crowley opened the scoring at 3–0 with an early penalty before the ever-reliable Jamison Gibson-Park scored the opening try, taking a quick penalty and darting into the corner.

Stuart McCloskey soon exploded through the English defensive line before releasing Robert Baloucoune, who extended the lead with a clinical finish in the corner. Matters worsened for the hosts when Leicester Tigers’ Freddie Steward was sent to the bin, and Ireland took clinical advantage. Baloucoune, enjoying a stellar afternoon, turned provider after exploiting a gap in the defense to play a simple pass to Tommy O’Brien. O’Brien’s try gave Ireland a 22–0 lead just ten minutes after he replaced James Lowe—one of four tactical substitutions in a frantic first half.

Marcus Smith, brought on to cover for the sidelined Steward, made an immediate impact. His delayed pass found Fraser Dingwall, who broke through the excellent Irish defense to finally put England on the scoreboard right on the stroke of halftime.

One of the aforementioned early substitutions saw Jamie George replace Luke Cowan-Dickie. It is safe to say "LCD" has failed to impress so far in this year’s tournament, raising questions about England’s depth at hooker—especially with George announcing his intention to retire at the end of next season.

Any momentum England took into the sheds was short-lived. First, Henry Pollock was sent to the sin bin on his first Six Nations start; then, Ireland secured their bonus point as hooker Dan Sheehan powered over from close range. It proved a rough afternoon for George Ford at fly-half, who struggled to make the attack click, though he did manage to set up Ollie Lawrence for the home side's second try.

At that point, England fans might have begun dreaming of a comeback, and those dreams seemed more plausible when Jamie Osborne was sent to the bin for Ireland. However, Jack Crowley quickly shattered those hopes by slotting back-to-back penalties. Osborne then made amends for his yellow card by scoring a try of his own, putting the game well beyond England’s reach.

Sam Underhill managed a third try for England to soften the blow, but the home side was simply outperformed by a dominant Irish side in their own backyard.

Ireland appear to be finding form at the perfect time as they look to build momentum a year out from the World Cup. Meanwhile, England are hitting a significant blip, though the bigger concern may be the individual performances of certain players rather than the results themselves.

Next up, England travel to Rome to face an Italy side playing with renewed confidence. Ireland play host to a Wales team still searching for their first Six Nations win since 2023.

It was a disappointing result for Maro Itoje, who was celebrating his 100th cap for England. The Saracens second-row told ITV that the players know the performance "isn’t good enough"—perhaps the understatement of the tournament. Meanwhile, Dan Sheehan told ITV the performance was "one of the best" from Ireland and that securing a win at Twickenham was "special."