Ireland clinch Grand Slam in style after win over England

Champions. And from the moment Caelan Doris barreled over to score in the opening minutes in Cardiff six weeks ago, it hardly seemed in doubt.

It's Ireland’s Grand Slam, their first to be secured in front of a raucous Lansdowne Road crowd, and it’s the most emphatic of the lot.

The stars aligned for Andy Farrell’s side from a long way out; a packed Aviva Stadium, a wounded England and the ultimate way for their captain and talisman Johnny Sexton to sign off his 14th and final Six Nations.

This was far from the best performance of the five, but it was the most important. At times in the first half Ireland looked frustrated when promising attacks were ended by handling errors, and misplaced kicks saw them put under pressure.

But the mark of this team under Andy Farrell is when things start to look pear-shaped, they have the mental ability to make it right.

Falling 6-0 behind inside the first quarter of an hour, Ireland were feeling the full force of a determined English side who harried the hosts into a number of early mistakes.

For the second year in a row between these sides, a red card arrived at a crucial juncture, England’s Freddie Steward sent off right before half-time for a shoulder to the head of Hugo Keenan, which saw the full-back replaced by Jimmy O’Brien for the rest of the game.

There will be some who suggest the game flipped on the red card, but in reality Ireland were starting to show their superiority, having gone 10-6 in front a few minutes earlier when Dan Sheehan burst through the 22 to score after a clever lineout move.

The energy shifted just after the first quarter; a big defensive stand led by O’Mahony (above), Sheehan and Lowe was followed by a penalty for Ireland at the resulting lineout to which the