England vs Ireland REACTION: Jones speaks as Irish win Grand Slam on St Patrick's Day

The Irish, seeking their second Grand Slam in nine years but third in their entire history, demolished a lacklustre England outfit.

Tries from Garry Ringrose, CJ Stander and Jacob Stockdale had Ireland on their way before the break.

Two Elliot Daly tries and a final Jonny May dot down were not enough fro England, whose kicker Owen Farrell missed all three conversions.

Even if he had made them, Ireland would have won and deserved the victory on St Patrick’s Day.

Relive the action and get all the reaction from the game below…

ENGLAND 15-24 IRELAND FT

IRELAND ARE GRAND SLAM CHAMPIONS

Match reaction from Twickenham

Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt, talking to the BBC, is all praise for his Grand Slam-winning squad.

“It’s fantastic for the group of players we have. They’ve worked incredibly hard and their class and courage really merited this achievement,” Schmidt said.

“These players demonstrated their character from start to finish in this competition.

“They’ve showed they can deliver in big moments.”

Is that a World Cup omen?

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More from Eddie Jones, who has just held his post-match press conference at Twickenham.

“I thought our players really stuck at it but we gave them too big a lead,” Jones said.

“It’s obviously disappointing but you go through these little runs and the only way you get out of it is by sticking to the process and focusing on what you need to improve.

“We’ve just got to keep working at our game, keep looking at how we can improve it. As I said, this is quite natural for a team to go through. It’s not good, but it’s natural. We gave them too many penalties at the beginning of the game which allowed them to gain such a big lead.

“They’re a good, tough team. They’re well coached and very well disciplined. They play to their strengths and are very worthy Grand Slam winners.”

***

Eddie Jones, speaking to ITV, has praises Grand Slam winners Ireland:

“We gave them too many penalties at the start of the game and allowed them to build a lead.

“They are a good tough team, very worthy Grand Slam champions and they’ve performed extremely well today.”

While we wait for the ceremony, you may want to head over to our live coverage of WALES VS FRANCE. We’ll have updates from both Twickenham and Cardiff throughout the afternoon.

FT: IRELAND HAVE WON THE GRAND SLAM!

What an achievement from Ireland. Unfancied in this Six Nations. They’ve come out and done the business. Just 18 months until the World Cup. Could it happen?

80: TRY! England’s May crosses over on the right. Ireland don’t care. That’s full time now.

78: So close for England! Brown stretches for the line in the corner but he’s a foot out of touch. That would have set up a thrilling end.

77: Some England fans walking out of Twickenham now. Not a single Irish man, woman or child is thinking of leaving. England are plugging away but the Irish seem in control of this.

74: Earls is down and England sense a chance with the wing down. George passes it out to Daly but he is smothered almost immediately by the covering Larmour… and knocks on. The clock is ticking down. Ireland can can smell the Grand Slam. Earls is helped off with what looks like a bad injury.

70: PENALTY IRELAND! The whistle blows. A penalty to Ireland with the wind behind them. Carbery steps up… and misses. To be fair it was 45 metres out.

68: Can England somehow get back into this? Sexton is OFF for Ireland. Just when they need his experience. The Irish need to grind this game down now, which they are doing in the centre of the field.

65: TRY ENGLAND! Straight out of the book. Ford gets it out of a maul and offloads to Brown, to Daly, who flings himself over the line. Brown was smart to release as late as possible there. Farrell misses the conversion. 10-24

59: PENALTY IRELAND! A splintering run from replacement Larmour takes Ireland right up to the line. They can’t get over though and the referee brings it back for a penalty. Murray opts to kick. Three more points towards the Grand Slam. 5-24

56: Aki is down. Play is stopped as the medical staff assess the centre. He’s up on his feet and walking of the field. Meanwhile, Hartley is off for George. Ford comes on for Joseph. Joseph has done nothing today. Metres run with ball in hand: 1.

53: Cole and Marler on for England. They’ve struggled to resurrect the pressure that was mounting earlier in this second half. The forwards gave it one hell of a go and now the changes come.

47: We’ve had pretty much seven minutes of England possession here in the Ireland third. And they just can’t get over the line. May tries left, and then right! And there’s a penalty. Daly pulls Kearny away in the breakdown. It looks like a neck roll and, yes, it is. That’s the end of the attack.

44: Daly goes close for England! He eventually gets the ball out wide on the left after England bludgeon their way to 10 metres out.

But Earls is there to flick the wing’s heels as he eyes up the try line. Daly flies into touch.

41: We’re back underway here at Twickenham. Quite a few empty seats as fans keep warm in the belly of the stadium, pints no doubt in hand.

England are in desperate need of some inspiration here. Farrell kicks long to try and find Daly but it’s out of play.

HT: Ireland will be delighted with that, especially with that final try.

England offered very little until Ireland had 14 men. They were stodgy in midfield, keeping the ball in the hands of the forwards. A lack of wing movement hasn’t helped either.

And their vulnerability was exposed even more right at the end when Ireland got 15 men back on the field.

The Grand Slam is still very much is Ireland’s grasp though. England just can’t match their mongrel in the breakdown.

40: TRY IRELAND? Let’s see. The clock has ticked past the 40 but Ireland sense something. They have XV back on the field. Kearney, on the wing, offloads quickly to Stockdale, who kicks it over Brown and chases! Can he get there? He can! Stockdale grounds after kneeing it forward, with his hands also grasping for the ball.

It’s TMO time again. Did he knock on? After a flurry of replays its finally given! What a boost for Ireland just at the end of the half.

38: Ireland play around with it, wasting time until they can get 15 back on the field. They’ll be looking forward to half time.

Brown gets his first grip of the ball after an Irish kick and he makes good ground. England eventually get a lineout further up the field thanks to Brown’s speed injection. Now, can they do something here before half time…

32: TRY ENGLAND! They make their one-man advantage count eventually. After almost muscling over, the forwards give up and flick it back to Farrell. He places a low kick into the left corner where Daly collects ahead of Earls. Farrell misses the conversion.

Watson, meanwhile, is injured. He is off and it doesn’t look great. Brown on.

30: Ireland hold up England on the line time and time again… but mainly through penalties. England charge from a lineout and get held up AGAIN. O’Mahoney is yellow cards. Farrell kicks to touch. We go again. They go long and it’s into green hands! What a waste.

26: CRUNCH! Aki could be in trouble here. There Irishman munches Daly as he’s going down. Heads collide. The referee wants a look at this as the snow starts to fall.

Each replay (and there’s plenty of them) draws boos from the Twickenham crowd. The referee eventually talks to Aki and that’s it. Leading with his shoulders? The hosts certainly thought so! Penalty England. They kick to touch five metres out…

24: TRY IRELAND! Well that’s better than a penalty. 

Ireland come back from a lineout in their next possession and Ringrose offloads to Stander, who muscles his way to the line. He’s dragged and almost collides with the post. The Irish celebrate and the referee goes to the TMO again. It’s eventually given!

22: PENALTY IRELAND! George Kruis knocks it on and Ireland get it back 30 metres out. Moments later they earn a penalty dead centre. Jonny Sexton only has eyes for the posts… he nails it into the wind but it hits the post! England collect.

20: Both Hartley and Best having long, long chats with the referee. England were stung by the ref last time out and don’t want that happening again.

Both being told to stay on the feet.

18: England just cannot get anything together here, and the Irish can sense blood. Ian Henderson, the only change for the XV today, is throwing his weight around with Tadhg Furlong.

James Ryan is down receiving treatment after an Irish push ends up in touch. England were lucky there.

15: England have made ground a couple of times without it coming to anything.

Ireland’s forwards seem to be having the better of the early exchanges.

There are no runners willing to give it a go. They’re staying central and it’s not the most entertaining of tactics.

6: TRY? Watson fails to collect a high kick under pressure and the ball bobbles over the line. Ringrose dives on it and it looks good…

We go to TMO and… TRY! Sexton kicks through for 7-0. 

3: We’re underway here and already a mistake from Ireland has given their hosts territory 15 metres from the line.

KICK OFF: Ireland kick off and England reply with box kick from Ricard Wrigglesworth. How many of those will we see today?

Ireland Grand Slam nerves

This may be a dead-rubber for England but it’s a big, big day for Ireland.

Remember, they are on the verge of only a third Grand Slam in their history.

The first, back in 1948, few of us were even alive for, yet alone remember.

But the 2009 triumph is now the target the emulate.

That victory nine years ago lifted a hoodoo from the Irish but they’re taking this clash with just as much importance.

Are they nervous? Joe Schmidt will say no but the looks around the press room before kick off suggests otherwise.

England vs Ireland team news

The squads are in without changes from the midweek announcements.

England make seven changes from the side that lost to France. The big one is George Ford being dropped, Owen Farrell moving to fly-half and Ben Te’o coming in at 12.

Forwards Danny Care, lock Joe Launchbury and prop Dan Cole are all out, with Richard Wigglesworth, George Kruis and Kyle Sinckler replacing them.

Captain and hooker Dylan Hartley returns to the XV.

Courtney Lawes is injured, with James Haskell coming in a pushing Chris Robshaw to blind-side flanker.

Sam Simmonds, who endured a miserable day against Wales last time out at Twickenham, is in for the injured Nathan Hughes.

As for Ireland, forward Iain Henderson is back in the XV as they target a Grand Slam.

He is the only change to the squad that beat Scotland last time out, with lock Devin Toner.

Snow and travel worries

The snow has so far held off at Twickenham but there is an 80 per cent chance of the white stuff during the match.

It’s cold out there and with the wind chill it will feel like -7c for those in the stands.

So, if you’re travelling to the game wrap up warm! I know it’s St Patrick’s Day but this is not a good day to test your beer jacket.

Eddie Jones

This is perhaps Eddie Jones’ most testing game as England head coach.

The game takes place just days after a talk held by Jones last summer, in which he called the Irish “scummy”, surfaced.

Jones has apologised for the comments and Ireland insist it has added no extra incentive on their mission to win the Grand Slam.

But in reality it has overshadowed the game and Jones, who got plenty of flack from Scotland fans last time out, could be in for a tough afternoon.

St Patrick’s Day celebrations

Fans are streaming into Twickenham and the St Patrick’s Day festivities are already in full swing.

England vs Ireland head to head

This is the 133rd clash between England and Ireland, according to Irish Rugby.

England boast a W76 D8 L48 record over their rivals from across the sea.

But recent results have told a different story.

Ireland have won two of their last four meetings with the English, including the 13-9 triumph last year that ended Eddie Jones’ hopes of a Grand Slam.

Another win here and it’s an Irish Grand Slam for the first time since 2009.

Welcome

Hello and welcome to our LIVE coverage of England vs Ireland.

It’s St Patrick’s Day at Twickenham and the Irish will be gunning for an extra special victory here.

They’re on a high and England are on the ropes. Can the Red Rose claim a last reprieve from this disappointing Six Nations?