Unsurprisingly Ireland’s World Cup build up ended in a whimper as a workmanlike England ground out a comfortable 20 – 9 victory. Ireland showed little imagination, often choosing the wrong option and the pack lacked the intensity at the breakdown of their English counterparts.
Ireland suffered a further setback with David Wallace now ruled out of the tournament with a knee injury, Shane Jennings has been called up as replacement.
As predicted England had too much pace for the Ireland defence and it wasn’t long before the defensive frailties of Ireland’s makeshift midfield were exposed with Manu Tuilagi brushing aside Keith Earls challenge in the fourth minute to score the opening try. Ireland’s experimentation has been so sparse over the last 18 months that they are now totally reliant on O’Driscoll remaining fit throughout the tournament.
You can read a match report here and highlights on BBC iPlayer for . . .
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