England 57-15 Ireland: Home side canter past wretched visitors in Rugby World Cup warm-up
England post highest ever win against Ireland; visitors concede 50 plus points for just sixth time in their history; Joe Cokanasiga (two), Elliot Daly, Manu Tuilagi, Maro Itoje, George Kruis, Tom Curry and Luke Cowan-Dickie scored tries in Rugby World Cup warm-up
By Michael Cantillon at Twickenham
Last Updated: 25/08/19 7:04am
England got their 2019 Rugby World Cup preparations back on track on Saturday courtesy of a controlled and dominant 57-15 victory over an exceptionally poor Ireland at a baking hot Twickenham.
Joe Cokanasiga (two), Elliot Daly, Manu Tuilagi, Maro Itoje, George Kruis, Tom Curry and Luke Cowan-Dickie notched tries for Eddie Jones' side, while Owen Farrell added 15 points with the boot via a penalty and six conversions, and George Ford one conversion.
A Jordan Larmour try and Ross Byrne penalty twice put Ireland ahead during the first half, but they were thoroughly outplayed for the most part, with the loss of confidence and form to Joe Schmidt's team this calendar year seemingly showing no signs of dissipating.
Indeed such a defeat was the first occasion in Schmidt's six-year reign that Ireland conceded 50 points or more, and just the sixth time in the nation's history - June 2012 the last time an Ireland side conceded such a tally.
There was further worrying news for Schmidt also as first-choice loosehead prop Cian Healy suffered a potentially serious ankle injury, while scrum-half Conor Murray took a knock to the head/neck area and was replaced at half-time.
Ireland started the contest in sloppy fashion as Murray made a forward pass under little pressure in his own half just a couple of minutes in, and when Healy was penalised at the resultant scrum for going to his knees, Farrell kicked the home side into a 3-0 lead.
The visitors responded in the ninth minute with the first try of the Test as a vicious maul turnover by Iain Henderson proved the genesis of the score, before the ball was sprung wide to Jacob Stockdale via a long Rob Kearney pass. The Ulster wing then chipped ahead, and though the ball took a wicked bounce, evading all chasing players, it fell perfectly for Larmour to scoop up and touch down.
Just three minutes later, England had their opening try when a dropped Kearney high ball presented a scrum in the Ireland half, off which Jones' side produced a lovely passing move featuring two passes out the back to Ford and Jonny May, before wing Cokanasiga demonstrated his pace and finishing ability to romp over.
Farrell missed the conversion, though, and so when Henderson won a superb breakdown penalty in midfield on 25 minutes, Byrne was able to kick Ireland back into the lead from around 45 metres out.
Once again the England response was immediate, as less than three minutes later Daly scored a try down the same wing Cokanasiga had before him, again with quick hands and momentum-generating carries the key.
With four minutes of the first half remaining, things got worse for Ireland and even better for England when Tuilagi scored off a five-metre scrum as the Ireland defence was again cut open at will - the Leicester Tiger sauntering over outside Garry Ringrose and inside Stockdale.
Ireland needed to score the first points of the second period to make a game of it, but England struck again five minutes in as an Ireland lineout in their own 22 went awry, after which Youngs found Itoje with an inside ball for the lock to rampage through on a super line and score.
Itoje's second row partner Kruis got in on the try-scoring act in the 54th minute when he barrelled over from close range after May had just been stopped with a last-ditch tackle before him.
England's back-row gave head coach Jones something to whet the appetite three minutes later, when openside Sam Underhill exploded past the Ireland defensive line off a cute Kyle Sinckler pop pass, before feeding fellow flanker Curry on his shoulder to score.
Cokanasiga powered over for his second try of the day with 15 minutes remaining as he looped round off his right wing to cut through Ireland's defence and throw a dummy bought by Stockdale.
Ireland centre Bundee Aki was next to score as he illustrated his pace with an outside break and finish in the corner, though it mattered little on a day of overwhelming negatives for Irish rugby.
There was still time for England to have the final say on the scoreboard as replacement hooker Cowan-Dickie took advantage of another Ireland lineout malfunction - Sean Cronin overthrowing to his opposite number - and was presented the simple task of flopping over the line.
Kruis picked up a yellow card in the closing stages for a high tackle on Jack Carty, but nothing could dampen the spirits of the Twickenham crowd and England players on the pitch, as they celebrated their highest ever winning margin over Ireland.