Tempers were boiling.
Ireland manager Andy Farrell got into a heated tunnel row with England’s Steve Borthwick as the two coaches clashed at the half time whistle.
Ireland went into the break in the lead, but England were far from out of it, and were arguably playing their best rugby yet this season after a brilliant start against the Six Nations’ favourites.
Jack Crowley had just scored a penalty to put the Irish in front, but Ollie Lawrence managed to get a try almost straight afterwards, and when he got a second, it looked like it wasn’t going to be Ireland’s day, until it was ruled out after a knock-on was spotted by TMO in the build up.
Some fine kicking from Crowley however meant that the Irish went in at half time a 12-8 advantage, and clearly Borthwick, was perhaps frustrated with this because the cameras soon panned over to see he was in a haughty debate with Farrell.
The two were clearly in strong disagreement over a particular matter, with the Ireland boss pointing to the field to reference a certain incident, but he soon had his hand on the back of his opponent, and they appeared to have cooled things down as they disappeared into the tunnel.
A James Lowe try early in the second half wouldn’t have helped Borthwick’s mood, although his team’s response surely would have given him a lift, as George Furbank pulled one back almost straight away.
When Peter O’Mahoney received a yellow card, the away side were down to ten men and the Twickenham crowd urged their team on as Ben Earl’s try gave them something to cheer about, and suddenly Ireland’s Grand Slam was slipping through their fingers.
Another Lowe try managed to get Ireland back in the the lead but a Marcus Smith drop-goal right at the death gave England the victory by a single point and Ireland’s Grand Slam dreams were over.
