Drat, drat, double drat. One mistake, that ball should have been put out of the park. Never mind, all the great test matches have been won, or lost, by just a score. So well done England for holding your nerve.
Ireland was so one sided I actually fell asleep and missed the last ten minutes. I blame my Ekornes Stressless.
What a game. It has to be the best international fixture on the calendar.
Either team could have won and both deserved it
Mistakes were made on both sides with points being missed out on along the way. Given how close it was it was basically just a case of who made the last mistake. The referee didn't have much control of the game either, especially being made to doubt himself with the constant commentary to him from Webb
Have to say, the best atmosphere I can remember at an international (with the possible exception of Wales v NZ a few years ago when Wales faced down the Haka).
Gutted at the result - couldn't work out why Davies didn't kick to touch, also still can't see how Sinckler was award the following penalty when he was clearly off his feet...
That said - well played both teams, must've been a awesome for neutrals watching. Well done England.
I thought the ref had a good game. He was consistent at the breakdown and was good with the new high tackle rules, again consistent. It was a good clean game with no nasty injuries. As for Webb giving him earache he must have learnt his trade from Austin Healey and Matt Dawson. Now they were a real pair of motormouths.data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7
After the first twenty minutes I thought Wales was going to be on the wrong end of a hammering but it turned out to be one of the most exciting encounter for years.
After today's superb victories for Scotland and Ireland only those two teams and England are now in contention for the title.
England v Italy was fun!!
Amazing tactics by Italy (kudos to Conor O'Shea and the coaching staff) to completely flummox England for far too long.
Seeing Hartley & Haskell asking the ref what the rules were was hilarious. I think it also showed how drilled the players are these days (not just England, I should add), and how incapable they are of thinking on the fly and changing the gameplan.
Eddie Jones' whinging and demanding law-changes was completely out of order, IMO. If they want to change the laws, start with refereeing the feeds into the scrums - there hasn't been a straight feed since before the last RWC.
That, and outlaw the choke-tackle - such a negative tactic.
I think England is favorite for the this tournament. Main problem with Ireland is few of their players are injured. Otherwise Ireland could be the winner.
Welsh defence excellent but Ireland very disappointing, couldn't break Wales down. Too many handling errors. Sexton yellow card crucial as Ireland looked strong early on.
Bring back Brian O'Driscoll.
Expecting a tough test for England against the Scots. Still not a done deal yet but the smart money is still on England.