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CJ Stander hugs his teammate Tadhg Beirne. (Fake images)
Ireland beat England 32-18 to end a four-game losing streak by their opponents and give CJ Stander a perfect ending to his test run in the Six Nations game on Saturday.
The hosts had to play the final 17 minutes with 14 men after Bundee Aki was sent off, but he held onto his most impressive victory since Andy Farrell took over as head coach after the 2019 World Cup.
Ireland finished ahead of England, whose poor title defense has seen them lose to Scotland, Wales and Ireland in the same tournament for the first time since 1976.
“That was the performance we wanted against one of the best teams in the world for which we have great respect,” Ireland captain Johnny Sexton told ITV.
“That is the standard that we have set now and hopefully we can continue to support it.
“We showed great guts throughout the tournament. Sometimes when you’re not taking chances, sometimes your performances don’t look as good as they should.”
England winger Tom Curry said his team was “obviously very disappointed. It’s quite heartbreaking.”
“We knew it was going to be a really physical match. The last three times we’ve played them it has been all about physicality and today was no different.
“A little discipline cost us here and there. In the last 20 we showed a little more of who we are.”
Owen Farrell put England ahead with a penalty early on, and his Irish counterpart Sexton evened things out after Robbie Henshaw crushed Elliott Daly.
Ireland took the lead with an impressive solo attempt by Keith Earls, the veteran winger who took a knockdown from Jack Conan, but still had a lot of work to do.
He dived in, beat Jonny May for pace and landed for his 34th try in his 93rd Test, Sexton converting.
Farrell added 500 Six Nations points on a penalty, but Sexton then added one of his own for 13-6 going into the final 10 minutes of the first half.
– Fluid Attack – Ireland put together possibly their most fluid attacking game of the tournament by stretching the English on both flanks in the run-up to their second try.
Number 8 Conan was quick to attempt the try, but it was effectively set up with a surprising catch from Hugo Keenan, beating Daly within England’s 22 after Sexton up and down.
Sexton converted to make it 20-6 at halftime.
England ruined a great opportunity to strike back at Ireland early in the second half.
Daly won a penalty, but from the resulting lineout, England were penalized for a center.
Earls then landed acrobatically from Sexton’s kick, but was ruled out due to a punch from Cian Healy early in the play.
They came out with three extra when Sexton converted a penalty for 23-6.
The Irish roared at the hour mark as if they had won the match when they were awarded a penalty – a flushed-faced Tadhg Furlong bellowing like a banshee.
Sexton didn’t let the opportunity slip away and added another penalty.
However, the hosts’ joy turned to frustration when Aki received a red card, for the second time in his testing career, after his shoulder touched Billy Vunipola’s head.
Ironically, Aki’s departure saw Peter O’Mahony appear for the first time after serving a three-game suspension for a red card in the opening loss to Wales.
England immediately took advantage with Ben Youngs attacking, although Jacob Stockdale’s defense could be questioned.
Daly missed the conversion, but the flawless Sexton eased the Irish nerves with two penalties to make it 32-11.
The Irish were reduced to 13 men when prominent Conor Murray fell into the trash in the final minutes.
But that came too late for England despite May adding a consolation attempt that was converted by Daly, leaving an excited Stander hugging his Irish teammates before an imminent return to his native South Africa.
