England imploded as a litany of errors allowed Ireland to put them to the sword with a record 42-21 win at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham.
The home crowd expected a vigorous response after the mauling at Murrayfield last week last week but were arguably treated to something even worse as Ireland scored ten more points than they ever have before on this old ground.
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Ireland have never had a day out like this in London! ☘️👏
Biggest points margin ✅
Most points scored ✅England’s first loss at the Allianz Stadium since the Autumn of 2024 when South Africa won there pic.twitter.com/KggltEDp29
— ITV Rugby (@ITVRugby) February 21, 2026
England errors v Ireland
England attacked with intent right at the outset, running through the phases until George Ford kicked away good attacking ball and the ricochet went forward off Fraser Dingwall.
Immediately the lineout went awry in quite alarming style. Often a potent set-piece weapon for England to run rehearsed first-phase moves from, not only did they struggle to get a platform they often failed just to regain possession.
The first lineout Luke Cowan-Dickie missed his man and there wasn’t any lifting, but that seemed to be a deliberate ploy with Alex Mitchell later found right on the five-metre.
England’s second lineout was also then turned over by Ireland, one of 22 that England conceded. That was two more than last week up in Edinburgh and head coach Steve Borthwick conceded it was too many afterwards.
With how highly transition ball is regarded in the modern game, England were their own worst enemies by coughing up so much possession.
An offside infringement allowed Jack Crowley, in for the dropped Sam Prendergast at No 10, to kick Ireland until a 3-0 lead after eight minutes. Five minutes later, a period of good English play was let down by a handling error just when they appeared to be threatening.
There was a clear glimmer of hope for England on a day most of those in white would rather forget – the scrum was a completely dominant weapon. Ellis Genge had Lions team-mate Tadhg Furlong on toast and wasn’t afraid to let him know that he needed to keep his side of the scrum up.
Two weeks is a long time in the Six Nations. A fortnight ago, George Ford was being lauded for a Man of the Match display in a rampant win over Wales. Today, a couple of costly gilt-edged missed kicks for touch when England had prime attacking position didn’t go unnoticed with the crowd.
When Ford later made a simple kick to the corner, the ironic jeers were deafening. Whether they were from the hordes of buoyant Irish in the stands or disgruntled England fans was hard to tell but it’s never a good look.
Ireland lead in west London!
Jamison Gibson-Park reacts fastest and dives over after a quick tap penalty
Jack Crowley adds the extras pic.twitter.com/y2ffeccV6t
— ITV Rugby (@ITVRugby) February 21, 2026
Tom Curry’s entry at the side in the red zone allowed Jamison Gibson-Park to tap and go with lightning speed and dive past Joe Heyes, who was arguably England’s best player on a sorry day, to score. It smacked of schoolboy stuff.
Just over a quarter of the way into the game and Ireland were 10-0 up but England had two entries into the Irish 22 with nothing to show for them. That told the story.
Ollie Chessum, so usually a dependable performer for Borthwick, broke from a maul and chucked a rank pass which bounced to Alex Mitchell and allowed Ireland to win a penalty at the resulting ruck.
Freddie Steward breathed a sigh of relief when Andrea Piardi, before he went off injured, adjudged that Tommy O’Brien had collided illegally with him in the air, forcing him to drop the ball which Gibson-Park gleefully picked up on the way to what he thought would be his second score.
🗣️ “I am lost for words.”
What do you make of this call, Ireland fans? ☘️ pic.twitter.com/ZxsdB5zPV2
— ITV Rugby (@ITVRugby) February 21, 2026
A Cowan-Dickie overthrow at lineout time was followed by a high tackle from Ollie Lawrence on Jamie Osborne. The errors kept stacking up.
Robert Baloucoune’s try in the corner was one thing, putting Ireland 15-0 up, but Steward being sin-binned for holding back Gibson-Park off the ball in the build-up was inexcusable.
Just before 30 minutes, Cowan-Dickie paid the price for a very disappointing showing as Borthwick brought his former captain Jamie George on. He said afterwards: “We’d had two line outs very early in the game, go not the way we wanted them to. Jamie George certainly helps in that regard. His experience supporting Maro (Itoje) there was important.”
“Ireland have taken a leaf out of Scotland’s book, they’re moving the ball – attacking those outside channels.”
Jonny Wilkinson on what’s going wrong for England 🌹 pic.twitter.com/edmLzaaq7y
— ITV Rugby (@ITVRugby) February 21, 2026
When Fraser Dingwall bit in, Baloucoune was able to feed replacement Tommy O’Brien, on for the injured James Lowe, who raced away to put Ireland in dreamland at 22-o up in the 31st minute.
Even with George on the lineout didn’t hit the mark as a five-metre shortside move broke down with him just short of the line and Tadhg Beirne pounced for a crucial turnover. Steward returned briefly before he was also hooked for Borthwick with the energetic Marcus Smith introduced with points needed.
Dingwall’s try got England on the scoreboard and saved some momentum but they were unlikely to ever be able to reassert any form of dominance from 22-7 down.
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