Ireland’s Six Nations title bid delayed after losing to England

LONDON (AP) — England beat Ireland 23-22 with a last-gasp drop goal by Marcus Smith at Twickenham and blew open the Six Nations on Saturday.

Ireland, rattled by an inspired England, gathered enough composure to be seconds away from clinching back-to-back titles.

But England, trailing 22-20, produced one last attack and took it to the Irish try-line, where it received consecutive penalty advantages as the clock moved into red. If the play had broken down, Smith would have had a penalty kick to win the match. Instead, he snapped off a drop goal from inside the 22 to win it.

“I thought, ‘Why not?’ said Smith, who came off the bench for his first rugby in seven weeks after a pre-tournament calf injury.

Ireland’s back-to-back Grand Slam hopes went up in smoke but it can still retain the championship with a win or draw when it hosts Scotland next weekend in the last round.

“For large parts of the game, I thought we were a little bit off, and that’s down to England, but I felt we had the resilience to keep bouncing back,” Ireland coach Andy Farrell told broadcaster ITV. “England found a way in the end, they really deserved to win.

“We have been very good at winning. We have to be good at losing. We have to make sure we review that properly and come into work on Monday with a smile on our faces because there is a championship to win.”

Defeat ended Ireland’s 11-win streak in the championship, tied for the all-time record with the England of 2015-17.

England, coming off a heavy loss to Scotland, returned home to a packed house and produced its best performance under coach Steve Borthwick. The recalls of George Martin, Alex Mitchell and wing Immanuel Feyi-Waboso in his first start paid off in an ambitious team that played direct and at pace.

England dominated possession and territory but wasn’t clinical. It outscored Ireland three tries to two but had another try ruled out and missed seven points off the tee.

Ireland didn’t panic despite losing two backs to head injuries and captain Peter O’Mahony to the sin-bin in the second half. A steal by Ronan Kelleher set up an attacking lineout from which left wing James Lowe scored his second try for 22-20 with seven minutes to go.

That just ramped up an already tense atmosphere with all that was at stake.

England’s Elliot Daly missed a long-range penalty attempt, and the team was reduced to 14 men when replacement Chandler Cunningham-Smith limped off with two minutes to go. England’s bench was already cleared.

But England went after the win and Smith secured it to lift the one-loss team back into title contention and end a four-match losing run to Ireland. They go to France next weekend.

“I am so proud, we came under a lot of negativity after that Scotland game,” England captain Jamie George told ITV. “We have known that something special was coming, we had a huge amount of belief. Are we one of the best teams in the world? No. But do we have the best people in place? Absolutely.”

The lead changed five times in a thriller.

England conceded an early Jack Crowley penalty but took only seconds to reply. Fullback George Furbank counterattacked from his half, Ireland wing Calvin Nash was crunched by Tommy Freeman, and quick hands exploited the absence of Nash on the right wing, where Ollie Lawrence brushed off Crowley to score in the fourth minute. Nash was replaced.

George Ford’s one successful goalkick and a second Crowley penalty made it 8-6 to England.

England was rampant in the half but couldn’t score again. A Ford drop goal attempt was charged down, a second Lawrence try was rubbed off by a knock-on, and Ford missed a penalty.

Meanwhile, of the six penalties England gave away in the half, Crowley slotted four between the posts for Ireland to lead 12-8 without firing a shot.

That changed after the break. Hugo Keenan regathered a box kick, England’s Henry Slade had a rush of blood and Crowley set up a three-on-one for Lowe’s first try. Ireland was 17-8 ahead and seemed good to go.

But England locks Martin and Maro Itoje released Furbank to score untouched.

When O’Mahony was yellow-carded in the 58th for a professional foul on Ben Earl, Earl ended up scoring and sending England back in front. Smith replaced Ford and converted.

O’Mahony didn’t return but Ireland regained the lead on Lowe’s second try, the last pass by scrumhalf-cum-wing Jamison Gibson-Park a second before he was smashed by Furbank. Crowley couldn’t convert and Smith had the final say.

“We have been building nicely,” Smith said. “Moments like this give us hope.”

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AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby