Cowan-Dickie scores in England win

By Mike Smith 

24/2/20

Like a phoenix from the ashes, Eddie Jones' men have fired back into life, beating an in-form Ireland side 24-12 at Twickenham yesterday.

After a loss in round 1 away in Paris, England fans have been given the response that they were looking for, with a convincing display which saw tries from George Ford, Elliot Daly and Exeter Chiefs very own Luke Cowan-Dickie to put them very much back in the race for the Six Nations Championship.

In what was a commanding first-half performance in front of the home crowd at HQ for the first time in this years competition, England led by Captain Owen Farrell dominated with their early pressure leading to George Ford finding space and breaking through for England's opener. Their lead was then doubled when Jacob Stockdale misjudged the bounce of the ball, with winger Elliot Daly capitalising on the mistake to put England 14 points up with just 25 minutes gone in the tie. Adding the extras for both tries, Farrell stretched the home sides lead to 17 points going into half time with a successful penalty kick. 

Ireland came out from the break looking determined to play their way back into the game, looking to make up for earlier errors and ten minutes into the second half they struck back with Robbie Henshaw barging his way over the line. However, the fightback was short-lived when England introduced finishers Luke Cowan-Dickie, Ellis Genge and Charlie Ewels who made an instant impact. First Genge had helped win a penalty at a scrum and from a resulting lineout, Exeter Hooker Cowan-Dickie barrelled his way over the line with the support of his fellow forwards to put England back in command.

A late try from Ireland's Andrew Porter proved to be nothing but a consolation with the game all but over. A game which also saw the welcome return of Exeter Chiefs Centre Henry Slade who, following injuries to both ankles in Exeter's 33-21 win away at Leicester back in December, came off the bench in the second half, pulling on the England jersey for the first time since the World Cup Final defeat to South Africa.

“I thought they were outstanding in that first 40 minutes, we put Ireland to the sword,” said Head Coach Eddie Jones moments after the final whistle.

“We played with a lot of control and read the conditions well. At half-time if it was a cricket game we would have declared,” he continued.

“We are building up, I got the preparation wrong for the France game and I apologise for that but we were very good against Scotland and we took another step up today, and we’ll take another step up again for Wales and we’ll need to be better for Wales."

Speaking of his sides next fixture, Jones seems to be relishing the challenge that the Welsh will bring to Twickenham.

"It is going to be fantastic. Wales have got a new coach, they're playing a little different as we've seen and we're looking forward to hosting them here. There will be 81,000 waiting for them. We'll welcome them coming down the M4."