Ireland wins the Six Nations after beating England and celebrates the great night of their rugby

Ireland’s darkest performance against England (29-16) was enough to become the new Six Nations champion and celebrate the biggest party in rugby. The Irish, number one in the ranking World Cup, they claim to be a superpower half a year after the World Cup in France. The French team, which defended the Six Nations title in this edition, beat Wales but could only be second in the championship. Ireland subdued an injured England that played the second half with one less. The nerves of an imprecise afternoon did not tarnish the fourth Irish Grand Slam – winning all the matches of the tournament – ​​after those of 1948, 2009 and 2018. This one is also special: it is the first in Dublin and comes in the middle of Saint Patrick’s Day against the eternal rival.

Seven days after conceding the worst defeat in their history against France (10-53), England had no jar of essences, so they fortified themselves in their comfort zone: avoid mistakes and let Ireland win the game. Playing with the nerves of the favorite worked from the start against an undisciplined rival – he committed three times as many fouls as the English in the first 20 minutes –, he missed his kicks and hasty in finishing. The XV de la Rosa took advantage of the infractions and added the first six points of the afternoon.

Sexton stopped the revolutions and opened the local scoreboard with a kick to history that surpassed the 557 points scored by his compatriot Ronan O’Gara: the tournament record now stands at 566. Ireland regained its balance with its defense, hermetic in his last curtain: visualizing an English essay required imagination, credit to George, who achieved it with the match already lost. The Greens have only conceded six in five games; the next best data is that of Scotland, with 12. They are the origins of the coach, the Englishman Andy Farrell, who achieved the peak of his career against his son Owen’s as number 10 rival. In the past 12 months, his team has beaten their neighbors to the north and the big three to the south: New Zealand, Australia and South Africa.

A title also based on the versatility of its forward, represented by Van der Flier, the best player in the world of 2022. When the Irish receive the ball from the band, the usual thing is to wait for a meow, the platform that destroys defenses. As England prepared to push, the third surprised, rushed out and attended Sheehan’s free run. An essay that put things in their place at halftime (10-6).

Before going through the changing rooms, came the action that unbalanced both armies. Freddie Steward ran into rival defender Hugo Keenan, hitting him over the head with his arm. The referee observed a high degree of danger and no intention of mitigating the blow: red card. The inferiority should have sunk England, but they came out fighting, taking advantage of the renewed Irish impatience to get within a point with 20 minutes to play.

Once again it was the defense that paved the way for the locals. After tackling Watson in her own goal area, the forward took advantage of the five-meter scrum for Henshaw’s test, finally materializing superiority. With everything downhill, Seehan posed his second mark on the right flank and Sexton, at 37, kicked his last points in a Six Nations between sticks, the tournament from which he limped off, like a good warrior.

France fulfilled its part in vain to take the tournament in the duel that it played two hours earlier in Paris against Wales (41-28). Their offensive superiority –Penaud repeated the double in London– allowed the Frenchmen to dominate an inferior rival who finished penultimate in the tournament. They were worth any Irish defeat, but it did not come. Italy reluctantly took the wooden spoon – the punishment for losing all the games – after falling in Edinburgh against Scotland (26-14).

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