Ireland 9 - 20 England - Final Score - Post Match discussion.

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England gave themselves a confidence boost a fortnight before the World Cup as they condemned Ireland to a fourth straight warm-up defeat.

An early Manu Tuilagi try and two Jonny Wilkinson penalties saw England lead 13-9 at half-time, Ronan O'Gara landing three kicks in reply.

With Chris Ashton in the sin-bin, England stretched their lead with a Delon Armitage try.

That proved the final score as heavy rain made conditions tricky.

Five months after their humbling 24-8 defeat attempting a Six Nations Grand Slam in Dublin, England will take heart from their first victory in the Irish capital since 2003.

But the casualty rate of the warm-up programme escalated further, with both sides suffering more injuries days before departing for New Zealand.

Ireland saw David Wallace stretchered off and Jamie Heaslip also depart in the first half, while Hendre Fourie and Mark Cueto only lasted the opening quarter for England.

ENGLAND'S WORLD CUP FIXTURES
Continue reading the main story
v Argentina: 10 Sept, Dunedin
v Georgia: 18 Sept, Dunedin
v Romania: 24 Sept, Dunedin
v Scotland: 01 Oct, Auckland
Fourie - not in the 30-man World Cup squad - had only been drafted in as a late replacement after Nick Easter joined fellow back-rows Tom Wood and Lewis Moody on the sidelines, with James Haskell starting at number eight.

Fourie was heavily involved in England's opening salvo before two minutes of pressure came to nothing when Wilkinson's right-footed drop-goal from long range drifted wide.

But the visitors didn't have long to wait to get on the scoreboard. After a powerful scrum and pick-up from Haskell, England moved the ball left and a simple pass from Mike Tindall sent Tuilagi arcing round an out-of-position Keith Earls to score his second try in as many Tests, Wilkinson converting.

Ireland replied when Geordan Murphy fielded an aimless kick from Wilkinson and was blatantly impeded by Courtney Lawes as he tried to run it back, O'Gara landing the penalty.

But England's scrum power was evident as they pushed the Irish back on their own ball, giving Wilkinson the opportunity to make it 10-3.

Ireland refused several more kicks at goal, Eoin Reddan taking a quick tap penalty close to the England line, only to see Cueto intercept his scoring pass with two men outside him.

Tuilagi's impact on the game continued to be felt, particularly by Wallace.

The Ireland flanker carried the ball through Tuilagi's initial tackle but did not survive a second encounter with the Anglo-Samoan, being stretchered off with a knee injury as O'Gara was landing his second penalty for the high tackle.

England also lost Fourie - replaced by lock Tom Palmer with Lawes moving into the back row - and Cueto, with Armitage replacing the latter.

A marginal high tackle by Stephen Ferris on Lawes saw Wilkinson make it 13-6 in the 27th minute, and England should have extended their lead on the half-hour.

Tuilagi picked up a loose Ireland line-out in his own half and galloped 60m before Murphy collared him, but England butchered a clear overlap with poor passes from Wilkinson and Lawes, Chris Ashton and Ben Foden bawling their frustration.

IRELAND'S WORLD CUP FIXTURES
Continue reading the main story
v USA: 11 Sept, New Plymouth
v Australia: 17 Sept, Auckland
v Russia: 25 Sept, Rotorua
v Italy: 02 Oct, Dunedin
Referee Nigel Owens lectured England captain Tindall as the penalty count rose, then warned Tom Croft after a skirmish with Cian Healy on the floor.

Ireland finished the half in the ascendancy but the visitors kept out a wave of attacks to preserve their lead.

They should have been hampered on the resumption with Ashton was sin-binned, but O'Gara's penalty came back off an upright.

Instead England stretched their lead while down to 14 men as Tindall's beautifully-weighted grubber kick was gathered by Armitage to touch down, Wilkinson's conversion pushing them out to 20-9.

But it was a mixed outing for the celebrated fly-half, who over-cooked a penalty kicked to the corner and saw another pass go to ground.

As the heavens opened on the hour, neither side was able to sustain any momentum in the final quarter, despite Paul O'Connell's promptings for Ireland.

The hosts depart for the World Cup on the back of four straight defeats, England buoyed by victory two weeks before they take on Argentina.

Ireland: Murphy, Bowe, Earls, D'Arcy, Trimble, O'Gara, Reddan; Healy, Flannery, Ross, O'Callaghan, O'Connell, Ferris, Wallace, Heaslip. Replacements: Best (for Flannery, 50), Court (for Healy, 70), Ryan (for Heaslip, 35), Leamy (for Wallace, 22), Murray (for Reddan, 62), Sexton (for O'Gara, 62), McFadden (71).

England: Foden, Ashton, Tuilagi, Tindall, Cueto, Wilkinson, Wigglesworth; Sheridan, Thompson, Cole, Deacon, Lawes, Croft, Fourie, Haskell. Replacements: Hartley (for Thompson, 52), Stevens (for Sheridan, 57), Shaw (for Deacon, 62), Palmer (for Fourie, 21), Simpson, Flood (for Tindall, 75), Armitage (for Cueto, 21).

Yellow card: Chris Ashton (41)

Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)

Attendance: 48,523

Yeah we don't seem to alter lines, it is something the French do they run a line which isn't the line they will run when they get the ball.

Maybe they will be running straight then when the guy inside them gets the ball they may break to the outside and receive the pass running that line.

I'm so glad Gaffney is going.

Darcy needs to get gone. Doesn't offer anything at all IMO. Wallace at least offers kicking and distribution

I used to be (still am really) a huge fan of D'Arcy but for a long time now he has'nt cut the grade. I was fuming at DK during the 6N this when he was dropping everything, constantly being turned over and botching tries.

Why could DK not see then that he was loosing his mojo? Fair play to him to give him another chance but it has just gone on too long now.

I don't think he will perservere with D'Arcy if he plays like that during the early stages of the World Cup. He will give players he believes in every chance to shine, but we've already seen he can be ruthless when he needs to be with O'Leary and Fitzgerald.

The time as come to be ruthless with D'arcy as well. BOD will need to play the USA game. I would imagine Paddy will play with him.

Bang on Stand, BOD and Paddy will have to start the game against USA. That game has suddenly taken on a whole new life with Ireland desperately needing a performance.

I imagine so too although I would pick;

11 Fergus McFadden/Keith Earls
12 Brian O'Driscoll
13 Tommy Bowe
14 Andrew Trimble
15 Rob Kearney

Maybe thats pressing the panic button, I don't know. I would have liked to see O'Driscoll at 12 before now and Bowe at 13. Maybe it's too late.

If it's a straight shoot-out between Wallace and D'Arcy, the two players we've tried so far, Wallace shades it on form but I'm not convinced either of them will make a massive difference to us. Not convinced any 12 would- we have had very fundamental problems with our attacking game in every warm-up regardless of personnel.

This would be mine for the USA match.

9 Eion Reddan
10 Jonny Sexton
11 Tommy Bowe
12 Paddy Wallace
13 Brian O'Driscoll
14 Andrew Trimble
15 Geordan Murphy or Rob Kearney/Keith Earls

Would love to see that Notch.

I am mightily depressed it must be said. 4 years ago i was still upbeat despite the performances against Scotland and Italy in the warm ups. We had a very good (if heartbreaking) 6N to fall back on. This time we have 1 good performance in 12 months. I have no expectations this time round.

I have to say I think a lot of our problems are coming from 9.

The number of different combinations we are trying in the half backs and the number of different approaches we are taking to the game through playing different 9's has left us without a clear game plan. For example.

O'Leary and O'Gara
Reddan and O'Gara
O'Leary and Sexton
Reddan and Sexton
Murray and Sexton
Murray and O'Gara

Thats not even mentioning Boss who is in the 30.

I think selection of 9's has been absolutely dire, especially O'Leary playing in the warm ups alongside Sexton who he's never played with then not even making the 30. Very poor decision making in my view.

I think Tomas O'Leary is going the same was as Tony Buckley for Kidney - a bloody disaster and trying to make it work with O'Leary has cost us dearly.

One thing going for us is that no one is expecting Ireland to do well now, and historically we've done very well as the underdog. Right now on form we should get to the quarter finals, but only because Italy have also gone backwards since beating France earlier this year.

Still, while we're targeting beating the Walliabies (looking increasingly unlikely), Italy's last couple months are all about beating Ireland. I hope to god it won't end up like the last WC!!!!!!! Ireland v Italy will be fingernail chompin stuff!

We are down to bare bones in the forwards.
Lets be honesty other than hooker the cover we have involves a big tail off of class

Ross, Healy, DOC. POC, Ferris, Heaslip and SOB must start and must stay fit to have any chance.

In the back we have some big problems.
No quality 9, No quality 12 and only one 13 - BOD.

It is a long long time I have seen such a toothless midfield as Ireland produced on Saturday.
Other than playing a high tempo game with our backrow and POC doing a lot of carrying and creating fast ball for our better backs - BOD and Bowe - I struggle to see where the tries are coming from.

So Notch, you would put out an absolutely untried centre partnership for our first match? You're having a laugh. New combinations take time to gel. The World Cup group games is hardly the place for that.
I don't see BOD playing in that match so I wouldn't be surprised to see the same two centres as played on Saturday. In fact you might even see the same set of backs.
I think Kidney made a big mistake on Saturday by not giving McFadden some time at centre, unless he is considering him as wing for the USA game. That would allow Bowe to rest and Trimbel to go on the right wing again.

I agree Kidney made a mistake by not putting McFadden on in the centre but trimble couldn't have played another full game, he has played more in the warm ups than anyone else by some distance.

I'd start something akin to our starting team as we desperatly need them to get some confidence and a win (even against USA) will give them some at least.

Pack is looking thin cover wise yes.

Rava

BOD must play against the US. He has had 1 games preparation where he looked mighty rusty. He needs the US game to be in any way match fit for Aus. Take him off after 60 by all means but he will start

I agree with Stand,

Would also have Jennings on the bench as I think he needs to get up to speed whereas Leamy and Ryan both have played games and developed some form.

Jennings didn't even get that long for Leinster the other night

I'm still depressed after saturday, don't really care about the match too much and I think I lost a lot of interest after wally got injured. Absolutely devastated by it, terrible news for Ireland as he was playing well before going off. Huge blow for Ireland as he is one of the few players able to break the gainline from slow ball. As good as sob is, he is much better when he is on the front foot, from quick ball and I don't think he is quite as good as wally yet. I'm struggling to get excited for the world cup now, still looking forward to it and think Ireland will do better than we think but watching Ireland with out wally just won't be the same. My favourite rugby player of all time, I still can't believe it.

Its also terrible for munster, their backrow looks very light weight without him, and they are going to struggle in the hec group stages.

fingers crossed the lads are locked away and surrounded with positive thoughts and vibes. would love to see them bounce out onto the pitch v USA with a smile on their face in a few weeks.

leave the negativity to us suffering supporters.

val - gutted for wallace also. one of my favourite irish players ever. could never understand how he was left in the cold when we did not have a ball carrier to speak off in the pack

Munster's backrow looks a bit inexperienced without him really rather than lightweight. Will Quinny get a call for a short time?

Managed to catch this game in an Irish bar in Nice and to be honest I wish I hadn't have bothered.

Our tight 5 were a shambles. We simply couldn't live with Englands power and we were blown away at the contact and breakdown and unable to generate any quick ball for most of the game particularly after Wallace and Heaslip went off. The line out was a bit better with Flannery and Ferris but the scrum was demolished again.

Absolutely Devestated that David Wallace will miss the WC. He's been a superstar for Ireland over the years and it's a real shame he won't play in another WC. O'Brien and Jennings are great players to come in but we really can't afford any more injuries in the back row now.

It was great to see Ferris back on the pitch. I thought he was immense in very difficult conditions and he and POC were the only two forwards who stood up to the English.

Bowe is really out of sorts and on current form Paddy Wallace offers more than Gordon D'arcy. Keith Earls was caught out for the try but I thought he had a pretty good game overall as did Trimble, Murphy, ROG and Sexton but overall it was a bit of a disaster and the lethargic and sloppy form is eerily similar to 2007.

I was really impressed with England though. They look very powerful and I thought Tindall and Tuilagi played very well and their tight 5 demolished ours.

rodders,

Apart from that one penalty we conceded at the scrum, were we really destroyed in that facet of the game? I wouldn't have so.

MBTGOG wrote:rodders,

Apart from that one penalty we conceded at the scrum, were we really destroyed in that facet of the game? I wouldn't have so.

OK maybe demolished is too strong a word but it looked like we were dominated in that area and struggled to provide a stable platform. The breakdown and carrying was a bigger worry and certainly our tight 5 were beaten up as were our midfield. O'Brien and BOD would likely have made a big difference, particularly after Wallace went off as Leamy and Ryan were far to slow to the breakdown, but it is worrying how much we rely on certain players.

I haven't rewatched the game but my impression when watching it was that England were better in every single aspect of the game which is a big worry.

rodders england deserved the win no doubt. However what struck me was ive watched the game now twice is the lack of intensity from ireland. I honestly believe that were ireland to meet engalnd in the knockout stages so long as heaslip Sob and Ferris are fit we would beat them 6-7 times out of 10. Ireland look undercooked.

Undercooked? Or overdone?

Overdone IMO.

I agree that POC and 1F were the only ones to match England physically and Healy perhaps.

I thought Earls showed some nice stepping but ironically enough it generally came when he was on the wing and in space....
This series has really enforced in me the idea that he is a winger and if necessary a fullback but not a centre.

undercooked or overdone who cares.

despite having many good players the evidence of the last 18 months would lead me to believe that we are not actually a very good rugby team.

however we live on in hope that it may click in the next few weeks.

england may not be the most creative to watch but they are big, fast and direct and will take some beating. They make far less mistakes then we do on the pitch.

dublin_dave wrote:undercooked or overdone who cares.

Well I do. If we are undercooked then perhaps we'll improve after a game or two but if we are overdone then we are in big trouble and likely to go down hill.

To be honest the fact that our final performance was by far our worst was very worrying. We seemed to peak in the 2nd half against France in Bordeaux and against England we looked well off the pace physically, our defensive line was ragged and we were very slow to the breakdown, which to me indicates that our guys have overdone it. If so I'd expect we'll be on another early flight home from this WC.

Even as an Englishman, Wally has always been my favourite player. I think his performance in the game up until his injury really summed up why I loved watching him- his charging runs, great tackling and work at the breakdown. Huge loss for Ireland, honestly thought that a backrow of Wally, O'Brien and Heaslip, with Ferris coming off the bench would've been up there with the best. Going to miss him at the world cup, one of the guys I always keep my eye on, because he does the work to such a high standard, but often not in the limelight. Brilliant player, brilliant sportsman.

Without doubt the main factor influencing the game was the lack of BOD and the new English centre partnership.

Also SOB is world class and wasn't used.

Does DK read the papers too much to select his team?

SOB was injured if I'm not mistaken

Portnoy I think the other factor was when Wallace and Heaslip went off we lost a lot of our carrying ability and we were very slow to the breakdown. Apart from Ferris and POC none of our pack had any impact in the lose and we weren't able to generate any quick ball.

I thought England were very impressive and always in control. Wilkinson wasn't great but the physicality of the English pack and midfield was too much for us. Young Tuilgai looks a great prospect and could provide England with a cutting edge they've been lacking since Jason Robinson. I thought he and Tindall looked a good combo and the backrow combination worked very well for England too.