England ended their World Cup warm-ups with a 21-13 victory against Ireland at Twickenham on Saturday afternoon.England, who included Leicester Tigers trio Dan Cole, Ben Youngs and Tom Youngs, scored tries in the first-half through Jonny May and Anthony Watson, with Owen Farrell securing the win with two late penalties.
Ben Youngs, on the occasion of his 26th birthday, won his 49th cap and played a hand in the opening try, spinning a flat pass for May to score. George Ford converted.
Ford’s cross-field kick was gathered by Watson above Simon Zebo for the second try to give England a 12-3 half-time lead.
Ford’s penalty extended the lead before Jonny Sexton’s penalty and Paul O’Connell’s try hauled Ireland to within two points.
Owen Farrell eased England’s nerves with a 73rd-minute penalty and then secured the win with another penalty moments later.
England’s win over the RBS 6 Nations champions sets them up for the opening game of the World Cup against Fiji at Twickenham on 18 September.
England
15 Mike Brown
14 Anthony Watson
13 Jonathan Joseph
12 Brad Barritt
11 Jonny May
10 George Ford
9 Ben Youngs
1 Joe Marler
2 Tom Youngs
3 Dan Cole
4 Geoff Parling
5 Courtney Lawes
6 Tom Wood
7 Chris Robshaw (captain)
8 Ben Morgan
Replacements:
16 Jamie George
17 Mako Vunipola
18 Kieran Brookes
19 Joe Launchbury
20 Billy Vunipola
21 Richard Wigglesworth
22 Owen Farrell
23 Sam Burgess.
Ireland: 15 Simon Zebo, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Jared Payne, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 Dave Kearney, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Conor Murray; 1 Jack McGrath, 2 Rory Best, 3 Mike Ross, 4 Devin Toner, 5 Paul O’Connell (captain), 6 Peter O’Mahony, 7 Sean O’Brien, 8 Jamie Heaslip
Replacements: 16 Richardt Strauss, 17 Tadhg Furlong, 18 Nathan White, 19 Donnacha Ryan, 20 Chris Henry, 21 Eoin Reddan, 22 Ian Madigan, 23 Darren Cave
News
England head to World Cup with Ireland win
5 September 2015 5:13 PM

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