Sexton glad to see Ireland 'stay alive' in Six Nations after England scare

Ireland captain Johnny Sexton was glad to see his side "stay alive" in the Six Nations title race after a gruelling 32-15 win over 14-man England at Twickenham on Saturday.

England had to play nearly the whole match a man down, with lock Charlie Ewels shown a red card after just 82 seconds -- the quickest sending-off in Championship history -- for a dangerous head-on-head clash with Ireland second row James Ryan.

Even so, England were level at 15-15 with 20 minutes left thanks to five Marcus Smith penalties that arose from their scrum dominance.

But Ireland, despite some heroic England defence, eventually pulled clear thanks to two late tries from replacements Jack Conan and Finlay Bealham after James Lowe and Hugo Keenan had crossed the Red Rose line in the first half.

Victory left Ireland, who've now won three of their four matches this Six Nations, second in the table and hoping England derail France's bid for a Grand Slam in Paris during next weekend's final round of matches.

If France do slip up, Ireland could clinch the title and a Triple Crown against Scotland in Dublin.

"We'd have been so happy to be told beforehand, we'd get five points and stay alive in the Championship," veteran flyhalf Sexton told reporters.

"Two years ago we would have lost that game.

"We wouldn't have the composure to regroup, this week we prepared and the mental resilience stuff we have put in has helped," the 36-year-old British and Irish Lions flyhalf added.

England's second defeat of the tournament, following an opening day 20-17 loss to Scotland, scuppered their title hopes but coach Eddie Jones was proud of his side's fortitude.

"It was 15-15 and we were controlling the game and we just made a couple of mistakes that allowed them into the