England eye-opener for Hallgrimsson as Greece game looms

Heimir Hallgrimsson had less than a week to work with his Ireland squad, but it took the new head coach just 26 minutes to see the size of the task at hand as his side were outplayed and outclassed by England at the Aviva Stadium.

Declan Rice and Jack Grealish came back to Dublin and showed why they turned their back on the green jersey in exchange for the chance to play at the highest level of international football.

Three-time Ireland international Rice was on hand to slam home the opening goal in the 11th minute, and then he orchestrated a string of smart one-twos before rolling the ball to the feet of Grealish, and the former Ireland Under-21 player of the year made no mistake, dispatching the second beyond Caoimhin Kelleher for a 2-0 lead England held to the finish.

There was such anticipation surrounding the fixture once the two old foes were drawn against each other in League B, made even more interesting with the appointment of Hallgrimsson, the anticipated return of Rice and Grealish, and topped off by the ascension of former Ireland midfielder Lee Carsley to the interim England manager position in recent weeks.

The fans arrived in their droves – on both sides – and packed out the Lansdowne Road venue complete with all the usual accoutrements.

Flags, fireworks, boos and brass, the atmosphere was electric inside the packed arena and the anthems were perhaps not entirely appreciated before the game got underway.

But it was only then that the gulf in class revealed itself, as beaten Euro 2024 finalists England dealt the struggling Irish a harsh dose of reality with some slick, fast-paced football that left the home side reeling time after time.

By half-time the result was in no doubt, and while Ireland improved after the