England are the champions of this year’s Six Nations, but there was some sweetness to be had for Irish fans today.
The day after St. Patrick’s Day, Joe Schmidt’s men stood firm between England and history, preventing them from across the water from winning a Grand Slam.
A first-half try from Iain Henderson bookended by penalties from Johnny Sexton, targeted all afternoon long by the English, did the work to give Ireland a 13-6 lead on the hour mark with just two penalties from Owen Farrell narrowing the deficit for England.
As the game entered the final phase, England were determined to make it a more tense affair for the home crowd. Farrell converted yet another penalty to leave his team needing only one score to turn the match on its head.
Perhaps the biggest moment of the half was a wonderful Peter O’Mahony steal from a Jamie George line-out, the first that the England man lost in the whole tournament. At that moment, five minutes from time, the Aviva came to life and carried Ireland over the line for a 13-9 win that we can be proud of.
Here’s how Ireland rugby fans on Twitter reacted to the win:
Can this please be over now? #IrevEng #menerves
— Ciara Ní Bhroin (@Ciarastweets) March 18, 2017
#IrevEng #TeamOfUs Come on 🇮🇪 pic.twitter.com/MfEPoLhu81
— Caroline Mone 🌻 (@cmoneirl) March 18, 2017
Rory Best has emptied his tank once more for his country. #IREvENG
— Thom (@ThomJClarke) March 18, 2017
WHAT A STEAL FROM O'MAHONY #IREvENG
— Three Red Kings (@threeredkings) March 18, 2017
Holy mother of God, the stress of it. Driven to the sherry, i tell ya. Hang on in Ireland! #IREvENG #RBS6Nations ☘🇨🇮🍀☘🇨🇮☘
— Stewart Who? (@DJstewartwho) March 18, 2017
@peterom6 man of the match all day, doing the work of 3 #IrevEng
— Peter Hatton (@hatton_peter) March 18, 2017
@DavieJCee : "Luke Mcgrath's kicking game is atrocious!" Luke McGrath: "Bitch please!" 😂😂 #RBS6NATIONS #IRLvENG
— John Connellan (@JohnnyRC88) March 18, 2017
@RTErugby Luke McGrath has some set of balls…what a kick!!!
— Eoin Quigley (@Eoinquigs) March 18, 2017
Luke Mcgrath just game me a boner after that kick. That was immense #IrevEng
— jono clifford (@JonoClifford) March 18, 2017
https://twitter.com/Kirrrsty/status/843172774734708740
