England beat Ireland in Dublin and dream of Grand Slam

England‘s Grand Slam hopes are still alive after they secured a gutsy 12-6 win over Ireland in Dublin today.
In difficult weather conditions, what was dubbed as a Six Nations decider turned into a very physical battle on the floor and defence dominated the game but the boot of Owen Farrell with four penalty eventually won it for England.
Two years ago, England crumbled under pressure in the same fixture to let the Grand Slam slip away but this time, they showed a lot of character to turned the game around during the ten minutes they spent with 14 men either side of the hour mark and remain the only unbeaten team left in the tournament after two rounds.
Both sides went into the game as strong favourites to lift the Six Nations trophy next month after their convincing wins in the opening weekend of action but this England side is now on a three-game winning streak since their triumph over the All Blacks in December and look on their way to their first Grand Slam since 2003.
Farrell put the English on the scoreboard early with a 40-metre penalty but as expected the game turned into a fierce battle and neither side manage to put their game in place.
While England dominated the lineout, Ireland had the upper hand at the breakdown to halt the English but committed too many handling errors – nine of them in the first half alone – to turn their own possession into points.
The crowd had to wait until the 24th minute to witness the first meaningful break and it came from Munster’s Keith Earls, who replaced flyer Simon Zebo early in the game, but a couple of phases later Ireland dropped the ball and England could clear their lines once again.

Farrell doubled the lead with his second penalty just before the half-hour mark before his opposite number Jonny Sexton had to stretched off the field with a hamstring injury.
The Saracens fly-half had another shot at goal on stroke of half time but his 45-metre attempt was just wide so England went 6-0 into the break.
Ireland started the second half best earning two penalties at the scrum to set up a shot at goal for O’Gara who stepped up from 30 yards to put the home side on the board and get the crowd cheering again.
This is the moment Stuart Lancaster decided to bring Manu Tuilagi and Courtney Lawes into the arena in an attempt to bring some punch to an England side starting to lose control.
But the home side were on the front foot and the Munster half-back duo of O’Gara and Connor Murray started pulling the strings with their kicking game pinning England back in their own half.
The visitors also started to give away penalties so Ireland were enjoying the possession as well as the territory.
Just before the hour mark, referee Jerome Garces had enough of the English indiscipline and sent James Haskell to the bin for not rolling away and playing the ball on the floor.
From the resulting penalty, O’Gara leveled the score but, despite being a man down, England regrouped and made their way back into Ireland 22 to earn two penalties in quick succession.
Farrell’s boot couldn’t be faulted from 25 yards on both occasions and England were six points clear with less than 15 minutes to go.
O’Gara had a chance to reduce the gap ten minutes from time but just like Farrell in the first half the ball went just on the wrong side of the right post.
Four minutes later, Farrell suffered the same fate but England spent the last five minutes in Ireland’s half to secure the goods.
For Ireland
Penalties: O’Gara 2
For England
Penalties: Farrell 4
Sin bins: Haskell
Ireland: Kearney; Gilroy, O’Driscoll, D’Arcy, Zebo; Sexton, Murray; Healy, Best, Ross; McCarthy, Ryan; O’Mahony, O’Brien, Heaslip (Capt.).
Replacements: Cronin, Kilcoyne, Fitzpatrick, O’Callaghan, Henry, Reddan, O’Gara, Earls.
England: Goode; Ashton, Barritt, Twelvetrees, Brown; Farrell, B. Youngs; Marler, T. Youngs, Cole; Launchbury, Parling; Haskell, Robshaw (Capt.), Wood.
Replacements: Hartley, Wilson, Vunipola, Lawes, Waldrom, Care, Flood, Tuilagi.
Referee: Jerome Garces (France)
Star man: Owen Farrell – England
NICK VERDIER