England roared back into the Six Nations mix with another comprehensive demolition of Ireland on Sunday as tries by George Ford, Elliot Daly and Luke Cowan-Dickie helped them to a 24-12 Twickenham victory in their best performance of the year.
Ford and Daly cashed in on Irish hesitancy when dealing with grubber kicks by Ben Youngs and Ford, while England’s ferocious tackling left Ireland, who had won their opening two matches, struggling to get any sort of foothold as they trailed 17-0 at halftime.
A Robbie Henshaw try gave the Irish a brief glimmer of hope but England hit back quickly as an unstoppable maul shoved Cowan-Dickie over. Andrew Porter scrambled over for Ireland at the death but it was still a hugely important and dominant victory for Eddie Jones’s side.
England’s third successive big win over the Irish takes them to nine points after three rounds, having lost to France but beaten Scotland.
France, who have won their first three games, top the standings with 13 points. Ireland have nine with Wales and Scotland on six.