Ireland beat England 32-18 on the final day of the Six Nations

England finished this year’s Six Nations with a humbling defeat to Ireland, closing out a tournament played in the shadow of coronavirus and marked by an absence of fans. 

First place is out of reach for both sides because undefeated Wales have racked up too many points – and hope to clinch a Grand Slam victory against France tonight.

Only a thumping defeat for the Welsh would take the tournament into another week when France play Scotland in a rescheduled match.

Today was meant to be the tournament’s finale but the France v Scotland fixture was postponed earlier in the competition because of a Covid outbreak.

Ireland ran riot in Dublin tonight and beat England 32-18, despite having only 13 men on the pitch at the end of the game, courtesy of a red and yellow card.

Ahead of kick-off at the Aviva Stadium just before 5pm, several England players took the knee in support of the Rugby Against Racism campaign.

All Ireland players remained standing. The gesture had divided players and teams across the sport, with some distancing themselves because of its association with the Black Lives Matter political movement.

As has been the case throughout this year’s tournament, the teams played in an empty stadium as spectators remain banned.

Profession sport has been permitted to continue but fans will not return to stadiums until May 17 at the earliest when 10,000 people or 25 percent of total seated capacity, whichever is lower, will be allowed.

At the Aviva this evening Ireland edged ahead courtesy of a superb opportunistic score from Keith Earls, who crashed over the whitewash after breaking through the defensive line.

Jack Conan outjumped Tom Curry to knock down Rob Herring’s line-out throw, allowing Earls to burst forward and sidestep Jonny May before crossing wide on the right.

Sexton added the conversion but England skipper Farrell quickly kicked a penalty to become only the third player to reach 500 Six Nations points – after Ronan O’Gara and Jonny Wilkinson.

Conan later got himself on the score sheet after scoring Ireland’s second try. Bundee Aki was sent off with a red card for a  dangerous high tackle in 64th minute.

England quickly took advantage of their extra man, with Ben Youngs clinching a quick try. A last-gasp try by Jonny May was little consolation for the men in white. 

Earlier Scotland crushed lowly Italy in a 52-10 rout in Edinburgh. Italy have lost all five of their matches for a total of 239 conceded and ending in a disappointing performance with three yellow cards.