Ireland scrum-half Jamison Gibson-Park starred as Ireland beat England 32-15 at Twickenham and was duly named the Guinness Six Nations Player of the Match.
Tries from James Lowe, Hugo Keenan, Jack Conan, and Finlay Bealham sealed a crucial win for Ireland that keeps them in with a chance of winning the 2022 Guinness Six Nations, although we will have to hope Eddie Jones’ side do them a favour in Paris on Super Saturday next weekend.
The Leinster scrum-half dictated Ireland’s attacking play that demanded patience against a resilient England defence and was instrumental in his side’s second try with a quick tap and go to feed Hugo Keenan.
Gibson-Park was full of respect for England’s effort after going a man down just two minutes in but was relieved to get the win that kept their Championship hopes alive.
Conan and Bealham seal thrilling Ireland win
He said: “We knew it was going to be a massive challenge coming here this week, it’s one of the toughest [grounds] in world rugby and kudos to England down to 14 men, as we expected, they put up a massive fight and kudos to them.
“We all know that teams when they go down to 14-men, they turn it up a little.
“I’ve been on teams when exactly that has happened and that’s how it played out today and they stuck at it for the whole fight and thankfully we came out with the points.”
England put up an impressive rearguard despite Ireland’s numerical superiority but eventually the visitors made the crucial breakthrough after 73 minutes as Jack Conan went over with quick ball proving too much for a weary defence.
“I suppose staying calm was the main one,” added Gibson-Park.
“I mean look around you, there’s 80,000 screaming fans – it can be tough to stay calm but I think we managed to throughout and came away with the win, so we’re delighted.”
Ireland now host Scotland in the final round knowing that a win followed by a defeat for France is likely to be enough for a first Championship since 2018.
