Playing in just his 27th professional game, Exeter Chiefs winger Immanuel Feyi-Waboso repeatedly shot an electric bolt of excitement through the Twickenham crowd, who rose in unison as if a shock was sent through their seats every time he touched the ball.
The 21-year-old, doctor in training, crackled and fizzed until the last minute of the match when his dominant carry down the right wing put Marcus Smith in a position moments later to knock over a drop goal to beat Ireland 23-22. Feyi-Waboso, having emptied his tank and suffering with cramp, summoned enough energy to join the wild celebrations.
England, whose attack has been much maligned, outscored Ireland three tries to two to derail Ireland’s attempt at becoming the first nation to record back-to-back Grand Slams. Ollie Lawrence, George Furbank and Ben Earl crossed for England, with possession and territory-starved Ireland striking twice through James Lowe, however, the boot of Jack Cowley who finished with 12 points, kept the game on a knife-edge. A late long-range miss from the tee from replacement centre Elliot Daly from inside his own half looked to have cost England victory, but Smith’s 80th-minute drop-goal sparked wild celebrations at a jubilant, noisy, entertained and fully believing sold-out Twickenham.
Ireland took the lead in just the second minute after obliterating England’s defence around the edge of the ruck, with a hole big enough for a rampaging Tadhg Furlong to fit through before the hosts conceded a penalty for Cowley to convert.
But the response was impressive, with George Furbank running back an errant kick, sparking the backline into life. Tommy Freeman smashed through Calvin Nash and then quick hands put Lawrence away down the wing to finish with a drive in the corner.
Having watched almost everyone else in the backline touch the ball to set up Lawrence’s score in the corner, Feyi-Waboso’s first involvement was a low dominant tackle on Hugo Keenan to force a knock-on. With his first touch in attack the Chiefs winger, set free by a pin-point pass from clubmate Henry Slade, exploded off his right foot to go beyond Ciaran Frawley as England bristled with intent and intensity.
Feyi-Waboso repeatedly proved to be the spark England were looking for, running from his own 22 to shrug off lock Joe McCarthy and spark a 60m counter involving Ben Earl and Jamie George that ended in a penalty goal for Ford. Lawrence then strayed offside, over-eager to try and turn the ball over, to allow Crowley to narrow the gap.
While Feyi-Waboso has top end speed he also has dynamic power and doing his best bulldozer impression he blasted a path through the green shirts which ended with a poor attempt at a drop goal from Ford.
England had the wind in their sails, dominating territory but a knock-on from Furbank, competing for a loose ball with Frawley, denied Lawrence a second try after he picked up the bouncing ball and scored but without celebration knowing the likely verdict of the TMO review. The habit of leaving points out on the field seemingly became an addiction as Ford then missed a 40m penalty from a central position.
And the indomitable Dundee Aki made the hosts pay, winning a penalty for not releasing after felling a charging Ollie Chessum and then getting back to his feet to latch onto the ball. A low drive of a kick from 45m out from Cowley just cleared the cross-bar to give Ireland the lead, 9-8. A more routine kick right in front from Cowley left England trailing 12-8 but having been the better side.
Ireland started the second half brightly and a defensive misread from Slade, who shot out the line, allowed the visitors to pass the ball behind his back and out to Lowe who finished with a dive in the corner more for the cameras than out of necessity. Cowley missed with the touchline conversion.
But England remained defiant against the title chasers with Furbank finishing another flowing counter-attacking move sparked by Feyi-Waboso working wonders with a tough position, putting his head down and turning scattered offloading into forward momentum. Ford missed his third kick of the day from out near the left touchline to leave the scoreboard at 13-17.
A barnstorming break from man of the match Ben Earl then shattered the Irish defence and in desperation, visiting skipper Peter O’Mahony dived off his feet over the ruck cynically to slow down the attack. He saw yellow and England showed ambition, kicking for the corner instead of the posts to be rewarded with a try from Earl after a sustained bombardment. Fresh on the pitch, Smith added an easy two points from the tee.
But Ireland retook the lead through Lowe to leave England chasing a historic win. With five minutes remaining Daly had a 52m penalty kick to win the game but his booming effort from the tee drifted to the right of the uprights. However England were not done and Smith, playing with a penalty advantage, took the glory with his drop-kick to give Harlequins clubmate Danny Care the perfect ending to his 100th cap for his country.
England: 15. George Furbank, 14. Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, 13. Henry Slade, 12. Ollie Lawrence, 11. Tommy Freeman, 10. George Ford, 9. Alex Mitchell; 1. Ellis Genge, 2. Jamie George (cap), 3. Dan Cole, 4. Maro Itoje, 5. George Martin, 6. Ollie Chessum, 7. Sam Underhill, 8. Ben Earl.
Replacements: 16. Theo Dan, 17. Joe Marler, 18. Will Stuart, 19. Chandler Cunningham-South, 20. Alex Dombrandt, 21. Danny Care, 22. Marcus Smith, 23. Elliot Daly.
Ireland: 15. Hugo Keenan, 14. Calvin Nash, 13. Robbie Henshaw, 12. Bundee Aki, 11. James Lowe, 10. Jack Crowley, 9. Jamison Gibson-Park; 1. Andrew Porter, 2. Dan Sheehan, 3. Tadhg Furlong, 4. Joe McCarthy, 5. Tadhg Beirne, 6. Peter O’Mahony, 7. Josh van der Flier, 8. Caelan Doris.
Replacements: 16. Ronan Kelleher, 17. Cian Healy, 18. Finlay Bealham, 19. Iain Henderson, 20. Ryan Baird, 21. Jack Conan, 22. Conor Murray, 23. Ciaran Frawley.
