Ireland Lead England 21-5 At Half-time

Ireland put themselves in sight of just their third Grand Slam of all time by establishing a 21-5 half-time lead over England at Twickenham on Saturday.

Twickenham, United Kingdom, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 17th Mar, 2018 ) :Ireland put themselves in sight of just their third Grand Slam of all time by establishing a 21-5 half-time lead over England at Twickenham on Saturday.

Already crowned this season's Six Nations champions, Ireland had scored three converted tries through Garry Ringrose, CJ Stander and Jacob Stockdale to one unconverted try from England's Elliot Daly.

Ireland went 7-0 up in the sixth minute. England fullback Anthony Watson dropped a high kick from fly-half Jonathan Sexton on his own try-line and centre Ringrose pounced on the loose ball for a try.

Ireland made it 14-0 in the 24th minute when centre Bundee Aki burst clear before passing to Stander, with the No 8 forcing his way over as he slid into the post protector for a try again coverted by Sexton.

The Irish found themselves down to 14 men in the 27th minute when Peter O'Mahony was shown a yellow card for pulling down a maul. England capitalised on their numerical advantage when Owen Farrell's clever grubber kick behind the Irish defence led to a 32nd-minute try for left wing Daly.

But with Watson receiving medical attention in front of him, Farrell was off target with the conversion and Ireland led 14-5. Deep into first-half stoppage time, impressive wing Stockdale scored an 11th try in just his ninth Test when, with little room to work with on the touchline, he chipped over the top and won the race to the touchdown.

With Sexton receiving treatment, Joey Carbery converted to give Ireland a 16-point lead at the break as they looked to match their 1948 and 2009 Slams. Deposed champions England came into this match on the back of successive defeats by Scotland and France -- the first time they had lost two matches in a row under Eddie Jones.

Australian coach Jones responded to last week's 22-16 reverse in Paris by making 10 changes -- seven in personnel and three positional switches -- to his starting XV. England have yet to lose at home under Jones, having won their last 14 Tests at Twickenham.