Ollie Lawrence, George Furbank, Ben Earl scored tries, before Marcus Smith struck a drop-goal with the final kick to beat Six Nations leaders Ireland at Twickenham, denying them the title a week early and halting dreams of a consecutive Grand Slam; James Lowe scored two tries for Ireland
Ireland’s hopes of historic back-to-back Six Nations Grand Slams were ended by England with the final kick at Twickenham, as Marcus Smith struck a last-gasp drop goal to seal a 23-22 win.
England, who produced their best performance of the championship by a considerable distance, scored tries through Ollie Lawrence, George Furbank and Ben Earl.
Ireland scored their points through four Jack Crowley penalties and two James Lowe tries, but fell behind from a position of nine points ahead as England got the better of their lineout, two injuries to backs forced scrum-half Jamison Gibson-Park to the wing and skipper Peter O’Mahony was shown a costly yellow card.
England 23-22 Ireland – Score summary
England – Tries: Lawrence (4), Furbank (48), Earl (60). Cons: Smith (61). Pens: Ford (17). Drop-goal: Smith (80+1).
Ireland – Tries: Lowe (44, 73). Pens: Crowley (3, 20, 35, 40+1).
