England delivered a commanding performance to delight a sun-drenched Twickenham crowd Saturday as they ran in eight tries in a record 57-15 rout of Ireland.
After an early wobble England took total control of the Rugby World Cup warmup Test, delivering the sort of ambitious, high-speed game that has been on show only in fits and starts over the last two years.
All of head coach Eddie Jones’ selections came off for England, with Owen Farrell converting six of the tries and landing an early penalty from inside centre in England’s highest ever score and greatest margin of victory over Ireland.
The only downside for the hosts was the short-lived appearance of prop Mako Vunipola, who lasted only a few minutes as a replacement on his return from a serious hamstring injury.
“He got a bit of a twinge in his hamstring, it was more of a precaution to take him off,” Jones said.
England, coming into the game after a win and a defeat against Wales, were sharper in every regard against an Ireland team who looked rusty and disorganised, albeit somewhat earlier in their World Cup preparations.
Jones said he had picked a team to pass the ball and play at pace, and he was pleased as his men duly delivered.
“We went out to play a certain way and we did that,” Jones said. “I was pleased with the intensity and purpose we played with.
“We adapted to the game a little bit on the run, the concentration level was pretty good and that’s what we’re looking for in these games.
“It was pleasing to be able to move the ball a bit, especially after last week, which was a bit of an arm wrestle for 80 minutes. Today there was a bit of ball movement so it was a nice way to prepare for the World Cup.”
Ireland got the first try when Jordan Lamour chased a Jacob Stockdale chip after nine minutes, but from then on it was virtually all England.
Winger Joe Cokanasiga got his side’s first try, finishing off a quickfire backline move, and full-back Elliot Daly added the second after another impressive move with forwards and backs all showing great hands and attacking intent.
The Twickenham fans were in full voice when Manu Tuilagi got the third off the back of an impressive scrum, though there was some loose Irish defending on display to create space for the centre.
Prop Kyle Sinckler and flanker Sam Underhill then combined to send Tom Curry between the posts.
Ireland briefly lost key scrum-half Conor Murray, but just as he came back from injury, prop Cian Healy limped off for the day.
With fly-half Johnny Sexton absent due to a minor injury and his replacement Ross Byrne thrown off his game by England’s rush defence, Ireland were looking rudderless and seemed relieved to get off the field 22-10 down at half-time.
The one-way traffic continued after the break, however, as locks Maro Itoje and George Kruis both powered over the line. Cokanasiga got his second with a strong run after another superbly executed set-piece move.
Both coaches emptied their benches and as the game became somewhat chaotic, Bundee Aki skinned Daly for Ireland’s second try, only for replacement hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie to cash in on a terrible Irish lineout to take the score into record margins.
Ireland, who in theory could have topped the world rankings with a victory, now have back-to-back games against Wales to complete their preparations for Japan, where they will have to hit the ground running against Scotland.
“There’s a malaise about the team, you can’t blame individuals,” head coach Joe Schmidt said.
Captain Rory Best added: “That is not up to the standard that we set ourselves. It is hard to describe it without using a lot of profanity.”
England complete their build-up against Italy on Sept. 6 and start their World Cup campaign against Tonga before clashes with France and Argentina.