Ireland hold off England to stay in Six Nations title hunt after Ewels’ early red

England do not lose often at Twickenham but, perversely, they will remember this defeat with a fair amount of pride. Forced to play with 14 men for 78 minutes of a compelling contest it was only in the closing stages that Ireland pulled away on the scoreboard and it was the home supporters who were on their feet roaring their side onwards for lengthy periods.

While four tries to nil may look convincing enough, at no stage were Ireland remotely comfortable until their replacements Jack Conan and Finlay Bealham put an emerald gloss on the margin in the last six minutes. Exactly what might have unfolded had the Bath lock Charlie Ewels not been shown a red card after just 82 seconds is a legitimate debate but the net result is that only Ireland remain in with a shout of this year’s Six Nations title or a Triple Crown.

England, for whom this was only their fourth defeat in 39 home games under Eddie Jones, must now go to Paris to try and deny France a ‘Grand Chelem’ and, in doing so, avoid a second consecutive bottom half finish. There was more than enough defiance, though, shown by Maro Itoje, Ellis Genge, Sam Simmonds and a number of their teammates to offer a measure of hope for the medium term future.

Top-level sport, though, is about retaining composure and Ewels, on this occasion failed the test when he clattered James Ryan with the game barely begun. As red cards go it was absolutely nailed on, and precisely the kind of upright tackle the sport is trying to eradicate. If the crowd should have been sorry for anyone it was Ryan, led groggily away with his own eagerly-awaited afternoon prematurely ended.

The subsequent boos aimed at the referee Mathieu Raynal just went to show how many casual rugby fans still need