Ireland superbly seal grand slam against England amid red card controversy

independent.co.uk:

Ireland reignited the St Patrick’s weekend celebrations by clinching grand slam success in Dublin for the first time with a battling 29-16 bonus-point victory over 14-man England.The world’s top-ranked side were odds-on favourites to sweep aside their rivals to seal the Six Nations title and but were made to work hard for the country’s fourth championship clean sweep overall.Dan Sheehan’s two tries and further scores from Robbie Henshaw and Rob Herring ultimately elevated Andy Farrell’s class of 2023 alongside the heroes of 1948, 2009 and 2018 on a historic occasion at a rowdy Aviva Stadium.England played half of the match a man light after Freddie Steward was controversially sent off on the stroke of half-time following an arm to the head of Hugo Keenan and did their best to spoil the party.Visiting skipper Owen Farrell, restored at fly-half, gave his father’s side some cause for concern by kicking three penalties, while Jamie George added a late consolation score as Steve Borthwick’s men showed a steely resolve following last weekend’s record-breaking humiliation at the hands of France.Yet a bruising Test match belonged to the hosts, with Ireland skipper Johnny Sexton moving clear of Ronan O’Gara as the competition’s all-time record points scorer with a penalty and three conversions to take his overall tally to 566 on his Six Nations swansong before retirement later this year.Defending champions France had snatched top spot in the standings earlier in the day courtesy of a 41-28 bonus-point victory over Wales to pile the pressure on Ireland.England, meanwhile, crossed the Irish Sea wounded by last weekend’s record-breaking humiliation at the hands of the French, which emphatically extinguished their title hopes.