'Mental resilience' gives Irish a big win

LONDON • Ireland captain Johnny Sexton was glad to see his side "stay alive" in the Six Nations title race, after a gruelling 32-15 win over 14-man England at Twickenham on Saturday.

The hosts had to play nearly the whole match a man down, with lock Charlie Ewels shown a red card after just 82 seconds - the quickest sending-off in Championship history - for a dangerous head-on-head clash with Irish second row James Ryan.

Even so, England were level at 15-15 with 20 minutes left thanks to five Marcus Smith penalties that arose from their scrum dominance.

But Ireland, despite some heroic defending from England, eventually pulled clear thanks to two late tries from replacements Jack Conan and Finlay Bealham after James Lowe and Hugo Keenan had crossed the Red Rose line in the first half.

Victory left Ireland, who have now won three of their four Six Nations matches, second in the table.

The Irish will hope England derail France's bid for a Grand Slam in Paris during this weekend's final round of matches.

If France do slip up, Ireland could clinch the title and a Triple Crown against Scotland in Dublin.

"We'd have been so happy to be told beforehand, we'd get five points and stay alive in the Championship," veteran fly-half Sexton said. "Two years ago, we would have lost that game.

"We wouldn't have the composure to regroup; this week we prepared and the mental resilience stuff we have put in has helped."

England's second defeat of the tournament, following an opening-day 20-17 loss to Scotland, scuppered their title hopes but coach Eddie Jones was proud of his side's fortitude. "It was 15-15 and we were controlling the game and we just made a couple of mistakes that allowed them into the game," he said after his side suffered further blows on top of losing Ewels, with prop Kyle Sinckler concussed and flanker Tom Curry picking up a hamstring injury.

Nevertheless, Jones was buoyed by England's display ahead of next year's World Cup in France.

"I see that as a foundation game for us where we set our campaign for the World Cup in 2023," he said. "There were 82,000 people there that loved seeing the spirit of this team."

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE