Well who saw that coming?
Even the most optimistic of Irish supporters wouldn't have seen this coming, as Ireland produced their best performance since the opening round of the 2024 Six Nations, smashing England 42-21.
Their 21-point win is their biggest ever at Twickenham, while it's also England's fourth heaviest home defeat ever.
As you would expect, a performance like that needed some sensational performances, and Andy Farrell got that from his squad.
Here's how we rated the Irish players on the day.
Jamie Osborne – 7.5
Took his try brilliantly, with an excellent line of running that ploughed Guy Pepper over and put the game out of sight. Has settled well into the 15 shirt after a disappointing start in Paris. The yellow card will have frustrated him, even if it looked a harsh call.
Rob Baloucoune - 8
Has injected so much energy to Ireland's game, both in attack and defence. Scored Ireland’s second try and had a major hand in scoring the first and third. Won back possession multiple times from high kicks and had two crucial defensive interventions; the first on 12 minutes to snuff out an English attack, before a brilliant covering tackle on Tommy Freeman in the second half.
Garry Ringrose – 7
His usual relentless work rate, and combined it with more accuracy this week. Didn’t see a lot of ball to run with, but was aggressive and reliable in defence, while he flattened Henry Arundell into touch at one stage in the second half as England attacked.
Stuart McCloskey – 9 (above)
Ireland’s player of the championship so far, and seems to be at the heart of every good thing they do. Vital last ditch tackle on Henry Pollock early on, before making the break that set up the second Irish try. Came up with an interception in defence late in the first half, while his attitude was summed up by how he chased down Marcus Smith to deny England a bonus-point try late on. A combined 29 tackles and carries, with highlight reel moments to match it.
James Lowe – 6
Only lasted 18 minutes before having to limp off injured. Had one frustrating knock-on when he spilled the ball into touch in the opening minutes, but did force a knock-on in defence to snuff out an English chance, around 12 minutes in.
Jack Crowley – 7.5
There would have been a lot of pressure on the out-half's shoulders, but he backed up last week’s cameo off the bench with another good display. Had Ireland playing with pace early on, and his lovely link-up play with Jamison Gibson-Park and Jeremy Loughman settled him into the game. Smartly, slowed Ireland’s pace of play down in the second half as they tried to take the sting out of the game. Kicking from the tee still needs work though.
Jamison Gibson-Park – 10
That’s how you react to being dropped. Gibson-Park was Dupont-esque at Twickenham. His early link-up with Crowley showed his intentions, and he was alert to a sleepy English defence for his try on 20 minutes. The speed of his breakdown work directly led to two England yellow cards, and it was his kick, chase and jackal that led to the penalty before Jamie Osborne’s try. I’ve only listed a fraction of his involvements.
Jeremy Loughman – 7
Ireland’s scrum took another battering, but Loughman largely held his own, with Tadhg Furlong and Finlay Bealham struggling on their side. Only Josh van der Flier hit more attacking rucks for Ireland.
Dan Sheehan – 7.5
Needed a big performance, and got one. Carried the ball with a bit more vim than recent weeks, and beat three English defenders in his eight carries, one of which was a try. Made nine tackles in defence.
Tadhg Furlong – 6.5
Back in the starting team, there was a real energy and freshness to Furlong’s performance around the pitch, hitting rucks with real venom as well as logging 10 tackles, but struggled at the scrum against Ellis Genge.
Joe McCarthy – 8.5 (below)
His best performance in an Irish shirt for quite a while. Gave away a penalty for diving on a ball too close to a ruck, but aside from that it was a forceful and bruising display. Did a real job on an early English maul, before winning the ball back on the ground. Looked sprightly with his five carries, and threw his weight around in 11 tackles.
James Ryan – 7
Was used heavily for the unglamorous stuff around the pitch to secure ball; joint-second for attacking breakdown entries, and had a combined16 tackles and carries.
Tadhg Beirne – 8
Another player who looked determined after being left on the bench last week. Is carrying the ball less, but is distributing more, and had a clever pull-back pass in the build-up to Jamie Osborne’s try. Most dangerous when Ireland don’t have the ball – he made 18 tackles, won three turnovers in the tackle/breakdown area, and stole a lineout.
Josh van der Flier – 8
Looked incredibly low on confidence in Paris, but was right back on form this afternoon. Started brightly with a couple of big tackles, and logged an impressive 13 before departing on 49 minutes. Had one big break with the ball in hand in the first half, but England managed to scramble back.
Caelan Doris – 8.5 (below)
The Ireland captain looked better last week, and raised his game again today. The workrate was off the scale; he topped the tackle chart with 20, while only Gibson-Park and McCloskey carried more than him with 11, which he turned into 48 metres.
Replacements:
Rónan Kelleher – 6
Didn’t make the same impact off the bench as he had in previous weeks, but with Ireland 15 ahead when he did come on, he didn't need to have that impact. In excellent form at the moment, but relatively quiet today.
Tom O’Toole - 7
Like Loughman, Ireland’s scrum issues weren't on him this afternoon in his second half cameo, and he chipped in with big energy on defence to help Ireland see the easy win out.
Finlay Bealham – 5
Ireland’s scrum was struggling on the tighthead side before he came on, and unfortunately Bealham couldn’t get it back on track against his old friend Elllis Genge, and then Bevan Rodd. Three scrum penalties went against him, while there was another for offside during the second half.
Nick Timoney – 7.5
Is playing so well off the bench, it almost goes against him when it comes to selection in the starting team. Eight tackles, and three carries (with three defenders beat) during his 30-minute shift. His kick-chase put England under pressure in the lead-up to the final try.
Cian Prendergast – 6.5
A late call-up for the ill Jack Conan, Prendergast was used at the lineout when he came into the game in the final 20 minutes, although the jeopardy was probably gone from the game. Similar to Kelleher, he didn't catch the eye, but this wasn't the game to go chasing work, given he was needed to just help see out the win.
Craig Casey – Not on long enough to be fairly rated
Ciarán Frawley – 7
Had to come on at full-back after Garry Ringrose was injured, the game still needed to be closed out when he came on at 29-15, with 55 minutes played.
Tommy O’Brien - 8
An early sub for the injured James Lowe, O’Brien looked back to his best, making an instant impact when he linked up with Baloucoune in the build-up to the opening try. Connected with Baloucoune later to score one himself, and was far better under the high ball than he was in Paris.
