England 13 Ireland 10: Game decided by fine margins, admits Joe Schmidt

Joe Schmidt pointed to fine margins after England ended Ireland’s hopes of a Grand Slam courtesy of a narrow three-point victory at Twickenham.

Ireland full-back Rob Kearney scored the first try of the match to give Ireland a four-point lead after Owen Farrell’s penalty was the only score of a tight first half.

We didn’t quite get there. To be fair to the England boys, they defended superbly

Joe Schmidt

Sexton added a further three points to leave Ireland 10-3 ahead with 31 minutes but England hit back through a Farrell penalty before Danny Care crossed the Irish line after great work from Mike Brown.

Asked what was the difference between winning and losing, Schmidt replied: “Three points. That’s the fine margin that existed. We searched long and hard for that three in the last 15 minutes.

“We didn’t quite get there. To be fair to the England boys, they defended superbly.”

Schmidt reserved special praise for England full-back Mike Brown after the No15’s goalkeeper-like catch to deny Brian O’Driscoll a clear run at the English line in the first half.

“I thought Mike Brown’s goalkeeper save when there was no-one behind him in the first half was the defensive highlight without having to make a tackle,” added Schmidt.

“Him running a broken field was maybe the difference between the two teams when he got the space and put Danny Care away. So they are the fine margins.”