England vs Ireland: Marcus Smith clutch drop goal sees England ...

England beat Ireland 23-22 with a last-gasp drop goal by Marcus Smith at Twickenham and blew open the Six Nations.

Ireland, rattled by an inspired England, gathered enough composure to be seconds away from clinching back-to-back titles.

But England, trailing 22-20, produced one last attack and took it to the Irish try-line, where it received consecutive penalty advantages as the clock moved into red. If the play had broken down, Smith would have had a penalty kick to win the match. Instead, he snapped off a drop goal from inside the 22 and out front to win it.

Ireland’s back-to-back Grand Slam hopes went up in smoke but it can still retain the championship with a win or draw when it hosts Scotland next weekend in the last round.

England, coming off a loss to Scotland, returned home to a packed house and produced its best effort of the championship. England dominated possession and territory but wasn’t clinical with its chances. England outscored Ireland three tries to two but had another try ruled out and missed seven points off the tee.

Ireland didn’t panic despite losing two backs to head injuries and captain Peter O’Mahony to the sin-bin in the second half. A steal by Ronan Kelleher set up an attacking lineout from which left wing James Lowe scored his second try and a 22-20 lead with seven minutes to go.

That just ramped up an already tense atmosphere with all that was at stake.

England’s Elliot Daly missed a long-range penalty attempt, and the team was reduced to 14 men when replacement Chandler Cunningham-Smith limped off with two minutes to go. England’s bench was already cleared.

But England went after the win and Smith secured it to lift the one-loss team back into title contention and end a four-match losing run to Ireland.

The lead changed five times in a thriller.

- AP

England v Ireland as it happened

England: George Furbank, Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, Henry Slade, Ollie Lawrence, Tommy Freeman, George Ford, Alex Mitchell, Ben Earl, Sam Underhill, Ollie Chessum, George Martin, Maro Itoje, Dan Cole, Jamie George (c), Ellis Genge.

Reserves: Theo Dan, Joe Marler, Will Stuart, Chandler Cunningham-South, Alex Dombrandt, Danny Care, Marcus Smith, Elliot Daly.

Ireland: Hugo Keenan, Calvin Nash, Robbie Henshaw, Bundee Aki, James Lowe, Jack Crowley, Jamison Gibson-Park, Caelan Doris, Josh van der Flier, Peter O’Mahony (c), Tadhg Beirne, Joe McCarthy, Tadhg Furlong, Dan Sheehan, Andrew Porter.

Reserves: Ronan Kelleher, Cian Healy, Finlay Bealham, Iain Henderson, Ryan Baird, Jack Conan, Conor Murray, Ciaran Frawley.