Ireland vs England - 6N 2025 match thread

To be fair, the first one he got a touch on the ball so had to try and retrieve the situation as it was a 5m scrum otherwise. And he very nearly did get out of the in goal area too.

Just been reading the commentary in the Times and judging by some of the reporters and most of the fans, the blame isn't being levelled at Borthwick but at 0'Keefe, the referee.

Ah brilliant! It did no permanent harm anyway.

I don't see us chopping and changing. One of the big things seen as an issue previously was lack of impact off the bench. Today we brought on Conan and Sheehan on 49 minutes and they both played brilliantly. That was follow by Henderson, Crowley, Henshaw who added huge value. We got proper impact off the bench today. It was game changing.

Murray and Healy are done in few months by all accounts and it shows, so LHP is a real concern but Clarkson on the other side did fine when he came on.

No he wasn't. You clearly didn't watch the game

Mod: Edit.

Henderson actually had a decent impact today. Sheehan and Conan had the stand out performances off the bench but Henderson brought a lot too.

On what planet was that "superb". Even trying to big him up I wouldn't call it mir Ethan grand.

What's annoying is when people posting see this match only through the Prendergast/Crowley lens.

The game was defined by the momentum shift when Sheehan and Conan came on. Service was better then for the backs.

Just be glad we have 2 good young outhalves. They'll shuffle around with regards to who starts and finishes. Both roles are equally important.

Too many posters were waiting and wanting for one of the young lads to slip up. We're all on the one team.

Lots of people in here hoping Prendergast had a bad game. Didn't think we'd get back to Sexton vs Rog so fast.

It was notable how much impact our bench forwards had in comparison to England's. Conan and Sheehan were constantly getting over the gain line with big carries.

Cunningham-South's biggest contribution was shooting out of the line and leaving a gap in defence for Lowe to burst through. Led to the Beirne try. Tom Willis was anonymous.

let’s say it was Crowley who started today and played at the same level as prendergast did.
We would never hear the end of it.

Crowley was a key part of the last 6 nations win and in South Africa played well , but Before a ball was kicked against New Zealand in the autumn we were being told he needed to improve his game and he was under pressure to keep his place.

It made no sense than and makes no sense now

Equally the treatment of nash and Osborne makes zero sense.
How does starting Hansen and Keenan over Nash and Osborne make any sense, where is the reward for young players when they play great stuff at the highest level but to be dropped for a guy who took a gap period to play 7s and another who is playing poorly.

We are told strong competition is crucial to the squad but it seems that’s only at the 10 position and when it suits.

Gotta play your form players .SP is a kid, get him starting against Italy and Wales but Crowley gets that back line ticking…

Ireland are officially down for 23/23 at the lineout. That's a fantastic turn around from November and a vindication of what the players and coaches must surely have been working on these past few weeks.

But it's also an indictment on England's selection policy. They essentially selected three open side flankers in their backrow. None of whom are recognised as good lineout jumpers. They sacrificed competing at that set piece to frustrate us at the breakdown instead. They did win turnovers there, but every side that has beaten us in recent times has targeted our lineout and stopped us from launching attacks. England gave up on that before the game. Borthwick has to be criticised for that.

In fairness, I don't think we scored anything off lineout ball today though. We must have kicked to the corner close to 10 times and got turned over each and every time. So maybe the three open sides worked in that respect? Our attacking maul wasn't good today and we struggled to open England up when close to the line. All 4 tries came from much deeper.

But I agree, it's a huge relief that we went 100% on our own throw today. Kudos to the coaching staff and players on righting that wrong.