IRELAND began their defence of the Six Nations with an impressive bonus-point win over England at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday.
Following an indifferent opening that saw the hosts trail 10-5 at the interval, Ireland scored 22 points without reply after the restart.
Two late tries secured a losing bonus point for England as it finished 27-22, however, the result keeps Ireland on course to become the first side to win three consecutive tournaments.
"We're pretty stoked," said Leinster scrum-half Jamison Gibson-Park after the game.
"It was a little bit patchy to begin with, but we saw some nice stuff there by the end."
Sluggish start
England denied Ireland a Grand Slam in last year's tournament with a narrow victory and initially looked set to frustrate Ireland once again here.
Aside from two convincing wins against Japan, it has been a year to forget for England since that late one-point victory over Ireland at Twickenham last March.
However, debutant Cadan Murley pounced on Henry Slade's kick-through to open the scoring after nine minutes, with Marcus Smith converting.
Jamison Gibson-Park scores Ireland’s first try (Image: David Rogers/Getty Images)That spurred Ireland into action but they were left frustrated when Ronan Kelleher's try was ruled out after Tadhg Beirne held back Maro Itoje at the ruck.
England continued to look strong but their cause was not helped when Smith was sin-binned.
Ireland looked like they might fail to capitalise on the man advantage before James Lowe found Gibson-Park, who gave Freddie Stewart the slip before scoring Ireland's opening try.
However, a missed conversion and a penalty from the returning Smith saw England lead 10-5 at the break.
Ireland come alive
Whatever interim head coach Simon Easterby said during the break clearly had an effect as Ireland spring into life in the second half.
Six Nations debutant Sam Prendergast picked out Bundee Aki on the left, who powered through a throng of England defenders to score a try on 52 minutes.
Prendergast again missed the conversion but he kicked Ireland ahead four minutes later with a long-range penalty to make it 13-10.
Ireland extended their lead on 64 minutes when Lowe passed inside to Beirne, who sprinted clear to land the host's third try with Dan Crowley adding the extras.
James Lowe celebrates as Dan Sheehan scores Ireland’s fourth try (Image: Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)Lowe was again instrumental as Ireland scored their fourth try and secured a bonus point, powering down the left before passing inside for Dan Sheehen to go over.
Crowley again converted to make it 27-10.
England secured their losing bonus point with late tries from Tom Curry and Tommy Freeman, Smith adding the afters to the latter with the last kick of the game.
However, the day belonged to Ireland, who remain on course to make history as they bid for a third consecutive title.
'Some good stuff'
Speaking to Six Nations media after the game, Gibson-Park said he didn't think the hosts were that far off it in the opening half.
"I don't think there were many adjustments [after the break]," he said.
"It was just a little bit of accuracy we lacked in the first half; a few more passes stuck in the second.
Josh van der Flier and Jack Crowley celebrate after the game (Image: Sam Barnes/Sportsfile via Getty Images)"We saw some good stuff that we'll sit down and review, and a few things we can work on."
Elsewhere on the opening weekend, France romped to a 43-0 victory over Wales in Paris, while Scotland defeated Italy 31-19 in Edinburgh.
Ireland travel to the Scottish capital next Sunday looking for an eighth consecutive win over Scotland in the competition.
See More: Ireland, Irish Rugby, Six Nations, Six Nations 2025
