- Ireland 32-18 England
- Bundee Aki red card doesn’t take shine off Irish win
When England last finished fifth in the Six Nations, Eddie Jones blamed Lions fatigue for his team’s struggles with most of his players suffering from a lack of rest after the 2017 tour to New Zealand. He should not have the same problem next season after a third defeat of the campaign, all to Celtic opponents for the first time since 1976, revealed familiar faults of indiscipline and tactical inflexibility.
The England head coach blamed the media last week for poisoning the minds of his players, but those minds appear to be so cluttered by an information overload that there is not room for anything else. The champions started brightly enough, foxing Ireland with innovative lineout routines and taking the lead with an Owen Farrell penalty, but they were too prescriptive, continuing to kick when the tactic suited Ireland, and too slow to react when the home side played with considerably more resourcefulness than in the previous four rounds.
