Ireland have had to come from behind against England to get their bid for a third successive Six Nations rugby title off to a winning 27-22 bonus point start.
The hosts emerged triumphant at Aviva Stadium in Dublin on Saturday thanks to a ferocious second half after the visitors had made life very uncomfortable.
England got their gameplan spot on in the first half to lead 10-5 at the break, striking early through a debut Cadan Murley try before frustrating a stop-start Ireland.
But the hosts were at their relentless best after that and the game swung decisively early in the second half with a powerful Bundee Aki try before Tadhg Beirne delivered a knockout blow 15 minutes from time.
The relentless hosts pushed for the fourth bonus point-clinching try to cap off interim coach Simon Easterby’s first game in charge and got it through replacement hooker Dan Sheehan.
While Tom Curry halted the second-half onslaught with a try and Tommy Freeman’s try at the death gave England a losing bonus point, it was ultimately a seventh narrow loss in nine games for the visitors since defeating the Irish last year.
The schedule potentially opens up now for Ireland who will fancy making winning trips to Scotland and Wales before coming home for a mouth-watering potential title decider against France on March 8.
“The first half felt like the first round of a Six Nations, there’s so much at stake. We felt probably we didn’t at times make the most of those opportunities that we had,” Easterby said.
“The second half I thought we kicked on and we were probably a bit smarter in the way we played.”
England bossed the opening period and took a deserved lead on nine minutes when winger Murley collected a beautifully deft kick through from scrumhalf Alex Mitchell and Marcus Smith added the conversion.
The speed of England’s defensive line was having the desired impact and Steve Borthwick’s men were also edging the aerial battle before one glaring infringement too many sent Smith to the sin bin.
A sloppy Ireland failed to take immediate advantage, stacking up missed opportunitis as Borthwick’s decision to start three opensides in the backrow – including Curry and his twin Ben – appeared to be paying early dividends.
However, the pressure eventually told as Smith returned with Irish winger James Lowe making the initial break from a tired defender on the halfway line before scrumhalf Gibson-Park sold Freddie Steward a dummy to go over.
A Smith penalty doubled England’s lead at the break.
But they were firmly pinned back early in the second half when Aki drove past three English defenders to score in the corner.
Ireland’s Dan Sheehan celebrates scoring. (Photo by Evan Treacy/PA Images via Getty Images)
Ireland’s 21-year-old flyhalf Sam Prendergast, starting his first Six Nations game, made up for two missed conversions by nailing a long penalty to put the hosts in front in the 56th minute.
Ireland continued to make some errors but once Beirne broke through to make it 20-10, there was no way back for an overwhelmed England.
Borthwick highlighted the impact of the Irish replacements that he noted had nearly as many caps as England’s matchday squad but praised his side’s improved defensive display and attacking intent.
“You see an England team that wants to play aggressive with the ball, wants to move the ball and I think we took step forward in that,” Borthwick said.
“Ultimately we came up short… (But) I think there’s elements we’ll take and build that show the progress in this team.”
Meanwhile, Huw Jones came to the fore in the absence of fellow centre Sione Tuipulotu as his hat-trick helped Scotland fend off another fierce Italian comeback to open their Six Nations campaign with a 31-19 win at Murrayfield.
Much had been made of the injury to the Scots’ influential Australian captain Tuipulotu in the build-up to the championship, but they still thrived without him on Saturday.
The Scots opened up a 14-0 advantage in the first 10 minutes and led 19-6 at the break through scores from Rory Darge, Jones and Ben White.
But Italy, who fought back from 22-10 down to defeat the Scots 31-29 in Rome last March, once again produced a spirited fightback, with the boot of Tommaso Allan and a breakaway try from Juan Ignacio Brex levelling things up at 19-19 heading into the final quarter.
But the Scots held their nerve to win their opening fixture in the Six Nations for the fifth year in succession as two further tries from Jones – Tuipulotu’s trusty midfield sidekick for both club and country – took the game away from the Azzurri just as they were starting to scent a first win at Murrayfield for 10 years.
Scotland host champions Ireland next Sunday, while Italy will be at home on Saturday to Wales, who slipped to a 13th consecutive defeat in France on Friday.
“I’m pretty happy. It’s not every day you get on the end of three. Thanks to the boys for setting me up,” said Jones.
Scotland struck first when Darge barged over from close-range and then after a blistering break down the left wing from Duhan van der Merwe, the latter’s pass inside was touched by Brex but fell perfectly for Jones to score.
Allan got the visitors on the scoreboard with two quick penalties as Italy settled into the game, but Scotland soon scored their third try.
Hooker Dave Cherry found his jumper in the lineout and wrapped around to carry the ball forward in a driving maul before setting White away with a superb offload as Scotland led 19-9 at halftime.
Allan kicked another penalty to narrow the gap to seven points early in the second period, and the visitors then drew level with their first try.
Finn Russell’s poor pass was intercepted by Brex and the centre raced clear to score under the posts.
The momentum was with Italy and Scotland needed to wrestle it back, which they did on the hour-mark as wing Darcy Graham burst through a gap in the Italy defence and fed Jones to cross for his second score.
When Jones showed his power to hold off two defenders and stretched to complete his hat-trick Scotland had breathing space on the scoreboard.
with AAP
