England triumph in Dublin
England ended their World Cup preparations on a high with a 20-9 victory over Ireland in intensely physical encounter in Dublin.
By Simon Dilger
Last Updated: 28/08/11 1:09pm
England ended their World Cup preparations on a high with a 20-9 victory over Ireland in an intensely physical encounter in Dublin on Saturday.
Tries from Manu Tuilagi and Delon Armitage plus a further 10 points from Johnny Wilkinson took England to their first success at Lansdowne Road for eight years.
Try-less Ireland were relegated to their fourth successive defeat and suffered the added worry of losing two of their starting back row - David Wallace and Jamie Heaslip - to injury during the first-half.
England's game, although massively improved, was marred by indiscipline and it came as no surprise when, just a minute into the second-half, they were reduced to 14 men when Chris Ashton was sent to the sin bin.
For all their bad behaviour though, Martin Johnson's men showed encouraging flashes and, when not infringing, the forwards played a smart and powerful game.
The backs too looked much better and, although they tended to lie too deep in attack at times, Tuilagi's devastating pace and power will pose a serious threat to any defence Down Under.
Whipped
England tried to pile on the pressure with a powerful start by the forwards in the opening minutes but they failed to trouble the Irish defence.
And, after finding themselves pushed back towards the halfway line and running out of options, Wilkinson resorted to a long range drop-goal attempt that flew wide.
It was a different story two minutes later though when James Haskell drove across the game line to set England up to unleash their backs.
With the ball whipped out from the breakdown, England's midfield created space on the left and, as Keith Earls drifted wide, Tuilagi burst through the gap and raced in for the try. Wilkinson added the conversion to take England into a 7-0 lead after five minutes.
Four minutes later Ronan O'Gara pulled three back when Courtney Lawes was pinged for a late tackle on full-back Geordan Murphy.
But Wilkinson restored the advantage just before the 14 minute mark after good work by England's forwards brought the visitors a penalty within shooting distance.
Squandered
O'Gara slotted another three-pointer from in front of the sticks to make it 10-6, shortly after Tuilagi was penalised for a thunderous tackle on Irish flanker David Wallace, who was stretchered off.
But five minutes later the Irish were penalised for a high tackle on Lawes and Wilkinson was able to put his side back to seven in front.
On the half-hour mark Tuilagi blasted through to grab a loose ball from the lineout and sprinted 60 metres upfield before he was hauled down yards short by Murphy.
England then squandered a clear try-scoring opportunity with some desperately poor passing as they tried to spin the ball wide, finding only touch.
England's discipline at the breakdown continued to let them down and O'Gara made it 13-9 when the visitors were handed their sixth penalty with four minutes to go to the break.
Things did not improve after the restart, despite repeated warnings, and with just a minute gone of the second half the referee's patience finally snapped.
Pounced
Ashton was the culprit when he was caught off his feet at the ruck and England found themselves reduced to 14 men.
But England quickly overcame their numerical disadvantage to grab their second try after the forwards dragged the Irish defence infield with some clever driving to create space out wide.
Armitage finished the move when he pounced on Mike Tindall's beautifully weighted chip through the Irish line to touch down near the left corner.
Wilkinson booted a fine conversion to add the extras and take England into a 20-9 lead after 46 minutes.
The Irish seemed to run out of options thereafter and, although they tried to challenge, their attacks either petered out or never seriously troubled the England defence.
And in stark contrast to their comprehensive Six Nations victory over England in March, by the time the final whistle came there was many an empty seat at Lansdowne Road.
