‘Emotional’ George proud as England edge Ireland in Six Nations thriller

England captain Jamie George admitted he felt “emotional” as he watched his side end Ireland’s bid for successive Grand Slams with a dramatic 23-22 Six Nations win at Twickenham on Saturday.

Saracens hooker George, replaced in the 54th minute by Theo Dan, was reduced to the role of a spectator as a thrilling match ended with England substitute fly-half Marcus Smith kicking a clinching drop-goal with more than 80 minutes on the clock.

England, recovering in fine style from a 30-21 defeat by Scotland, scored three tries — through Ollie Lawrence, George Furbank and Ben Earl — to two from Ireland wing James Lowe.

Yet, having fought back from 17-8 behind early in the second half, it still seemed as if England would suffer a fifth straight defeat by Ireland, for all the visitors had captain Peter O’Mahony sin-binned in the 58th minute, before Smith had the final say.

For George, whose mother died before the Scotland game, a win that meant England had posted three victories in a Championship season for the first time since 2020 capped a tough few weeks on and off the pitch.

“We didn’t panic at any stage and I have to admit it was a bit emotional at the end because of everything that’s gone on,” George told reporters.

‘Didn’t listen to the noise’

“I am so proud. It is probably one of the most emotional and proud days of my career. The reason for that is there were doubters after that Scotland performance and probably rightly so but at the same time, internally we didn’t listen to the noise outside.

“For us to got out there and do that to a team like Ireland, who for me are the best team in the world at the minute, is a really special day.”

Before the match, George had insisted England could upset the odds, the 33-year-old saying: “This is England. This is Twickenham. This is home. And we’re going to defend our home, like every Englishman would.”

The victory in front of a crowd of over 81,000 gave England a chance to win the title, should they beat France in Lyon and Ireland lose at home to Scotland in next Saturday’s final round of matches.

“Jamie has said he wants the supporters to enjoy it and bring them on the journey with us and I thought Twickenham was magnificent and the supporters left with a smile on their face,” said England coach Steve Borthwick.

Borthwick appeared to exchange angry words with Ireland coach and former England team-mate Andy Farrell at half-time.

“I know people want to read things into that but Andy and I have a good relationship, we were co-captains together at Saracens as players…I have incredible respect for what he has done with that (Ireland) team,” he said.

Best performance since Borthwick took charge

Although England finished third at last year’s World Cup, this was arguably their best performance since Borthwick took charge in December 2022.

“What pleased me the most was that the players stayed true to the path that we’re trying to follow and tried to take the next step,” said Borthwick.

Farrell, meanwhile, had no doubt Ireland could bounce back against Scotland in Dublin.

“There’s not a problem at all about getting the lads back on track for next week,” he said. “Six Nations (titles) are unbelievably difficult to come by. To win them you tend to have a lot of ups and downs.”

Ireland were eyeing a hard-fought win when Lowe’s second try with seven minutes to go left them 22-20 ahead.

But Farrell had no complaints about England’s triumph.

“I thought they were super tonight,” he said. “I thought they were physical, they were challenging on the gain line and played a nice brand of rugby as well.

“To cut a long story short, I actually thought England deserved to win.”