Second-half surge gives Ireland winning Six Nations start against England

The three-in-a-row bid is up and running for Ireland, and it will take something pretty big to stop them.

In his first game as interim head coach Simon Easterby could hardly have asked for a better outcome. Trailing England 10-5 at half time, the defending champions were going through the motions before flexing their muscles in the final quarter.

And while their bonus-point 27-22 win was far from perfect, the manner in which they put England away in the final quarter will be hugely satisfying. The scoreline may suggest a close contest, but with England's final try from Tommy Freeman coming with the clock in the red, the result was never really in doubt down the stretch.

A try for Jamison-Gibson Park in the opening half was all the hosts could muster in a sloppy first half, where their discipline and handling issues from November, continued to frustrate them.

England led through a try for debutant Cadan Murley and a penalty and conversion from Marcus Smith, who caused the Irish defence real problems for the opening 40 minutes.

But as the game wore on, their new defensive system was picked apart bit by bit by Ireland’s improved attacking shape.

They drew level through Bundee Aki’s brute force on 51 minutes, and took the lead when Sam Prendergast landed a penalty, and while the game was still in the balance heading into the final quarter, only for Tadhg Beirne and the returning Dan Sheehan (below) to score tries, both scores coming from Ireland splitting England’s defence up the middle.

Ireland spent the opening minutes camped inside their own half, in large part down to their own errors.

England had good control of the early kicking exchanges, and when Garry Ringrose spilled a high ball, Smith sent England on the counter, before