Ireland opened their 2025 Six Nations campaign under caretaker coach Simon Easterby with a 27-22 win over England at home at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.
Irish TV pundits Shane Horgan, Matt Williams and Rob Kearney were impressed with Ireland’s second half performance which saw three consecutive tries in the second half to effectively bury the game at 27-10.
But it wasn’t all Ireland’s way with England the team to get off to a hot start with a Marcus Smith line break in the third minute. The visitors were on the board before the 10 minute mark with a try to debutant winger Cadan Murley.
“We were a little worried, but that was an extraordinary, impressive second half,” ex-Ireland winger Shane Horgan told Virgin Media Sport‘s post-game show.
“Some of the major issues that Ireland encountered in that first half, like English aerial dominance, were counter-acted.
“They were the ones who played all the rugby. England gassed out a bit, and that’s because Ireland stayed in the game in that first half, beating them physically, and they got the rewards in the second half, excellent, excellent performance.”
Former Scotland head coach Matt Williams agreed that the first half belonged to England after they started strongly and dominated the gain line, but unwavering belief from the Irish side weathered the storm until their own game got going.
“We’ve got to give England credit. You know, they defended magnificently in that first half. They brought the energy as we said at half-time, but they just couldn’t keep it up,” Williams said.
“But then Ireland had those missed opportunities in the first half, if they had the belief, and they did, and that’s a huge credit to Simon Eaterby and the staff, they just kept at their game. They believed in it. And we saw their attacking game come into play. They scored some great tries.”
Former Ireland fullback Rob Kearney said that England lacked “any sort of attacking game” which played into Ireland’s hands as the game wore on.
“I think that’s what we didn’t see from England, was any sort of attacking game. They defended very well. They were exceptional at the breakdown, but in terms of being able to create and get any sort of momentum into the game, they just looked a little bit devoid of ideas,” he critiqued.
“And Ireland really blew them away from an attacking perspective.”
Horgan added that when England’s kicking game became nullified, there wasn’t a plan B for the team to go to.
“When that aerial game went, when they weren’t getting the rewards from that, then they didn’t have any other options really,” he said.
“I think the other thing that was a big impact today was the Ireland bench, really big contributors.”
