timeThe lay preacher was working at Wheaton Road ahead of Saturday afternoon’s kick-off, holding a battered loudspeaker in one hand and a tattered Bible in the other. It’s been a while since his appearance at Twickenham but he used to be a regular here on match days.
He’s definitely back to the old days and thinks England fans could take advantage of the good news after the second half against Scotland at Murrayfield. “We have faith, we have faith, we have faith,” he roared. “Today we are confident.” The lads in flat caps and wax jackets queuing up at roadside pie stalls don’t look convinced.
It’s the best moment in 50 years since Ireland started here as heavy favorites. When they arrived in 1976, they had won four games in the competition in four years, with England finishing bottom of the tournament each time.
It’s not that different from this time. Ireland have won their past four games against England 32-18, 32-15, 29-16 and 29-10. England were not even within a few points of them.
To be honest, this is the least of Ireland’s achievements. They have won 11 games in the Six Nations, beating France by 21 points, Italy by 36 points and Wales by 24 points in the past five weeks. England’s Six Nations team eventually won the 2003 World Cup. What about the 2024 World Cup? Well, they just beat Italy and Wales.
So yes, faith is about all the England fans who stay and work together. Five minutes later, they finally got their reward. George Furbank kicked a kick deep in his own half and then ran diagonally across the pitch. The ball was quickly passed to Tommy Freeman, who Tommy Freeman bounces off Calvin Nash.
It was a collision that seemed to break the whole game, as if the shock wave knocked everyone out. Ireland were teetering on the edge and Ollie Lawrence had raced past Jack Crawley down the wing. Lawrence sprinted to the corner like a cork, stooped and swatted the ball down.
Twickenham erupted. It’s been a long time since the place was this noisy, but it’s also been a long time since England played as well as they did in the opening minutes. The only problem was, they trailed by four points at halftime.
Ireland barely made it to England’s last 22 but they didn’t need to as they were able to score four penalties. That’s enough to give them a foothold. It’s a testament to their composure that they were able to emerge from the storm with a lead, considering the pounding they received on the pitch. They also need a bit of luck to do this.
Lawrence nearly had a second chance when, while scuffling with Ciaran Frawley, the ball bounced off Freeman, who cut forward and grabbed the rebound. It was knocked down by knocks. Even so, this is England’s best half-time since their draw with New Zealand here in the autumn of 2022.
Regardless, their best performance wasn’t until the one that followed. Because England were great in the first 40 minutes but even better in the second 40 minutes. They were in trouble when James Lowe scored twice, in the 43rd and 72nd minutes.
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England’s counterattack was even more difficult. Their second goal followed Ireland’s first when Firbank completed a couple of tries from Maro Itoje and Sam Underhill A step established by the bull run. When Ben Earl scored the third goal 15 minutes later, something very strange indeed happened. Twickenham began hammering, rattling and bouncing, the seats vibrating, the rafters swaying, the apparatus swaying, and tens of thousands of England fans jumping up and down in celebration.
England are trying. It feels like you’re finally getting to see what Steve Borthwick has built in all those training sessions at Pennyhill Park. Their pack’s voracious appetites make one wonder if Borthwick had kept them without meat for an entire week. Ollie Chessum, on the wing, seemed to be making all the other tackles and in front of him, George Martin was very strong. Man of the Match Ben Earl was a human wrecking ball while Maro Itoje and Ellis Genge once again performed like the ones you remember Same as people in the good old days before habit failed. You can do this for the entire 23 hours.
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Behind them, Lawrence, Freeman, Firbank, Emmanuel Faye-Waboso all performed well, as did Danny Kyle and Marcus Smith who came off the bench.
When it was all over people came out into the streets and there was a lot of spirit and cheers and laughter and all the talk was about what a great game it was and how well England played and Preacher was nowhere to be found . visible. He had packed his luggage and set off in the night, probably to a place where people needed him more.
