VIDEO: Another red card for England as Ireland ease to victory

REPORT: Another one of Steve Borthwick’s stars is set to face the music in the coming days.

Billy Vunipola will be the one in the hot seat after he received a red card in his team’s 10-29 defeat to Ireland in a World Cup warm-up match in Dublin on Saturday.

The No.8 was first shown a yellow card for a head-high challenge on  Andrew Porter in the 53rd minute.

However, a few minutes later it was upgraded to a red under the new Foul Play review System.

Billy Vunipola’s red card.

Zero mitigation and strange it was a yellow initially but this once again shows the effectiveness of the bunker.#IREvENG pic.twitter.com/CkXkGupRjL

— Philip Bendon (@PBendon) August 19, 2023

That offence threatens Vunipola’s involvement at a World Cup where he is the only specialist No.8 in England’s squad for the tournament starting in France next month.

By that stage, Ireland were well on their way to a 12th successive victory that kept them top the top of the world rankings.

They scored five tries, all through their backs, with Bundee Aki, Garry Ringrose, James Lowe, Mack Hansen and Keith Earls – winning his 100th cap off the bench – all crossing England’s line.

England did manage a try late on through replacement prop Kyle Sinckler.

But a fourth successive Test without a try by one of their backs pointed to the lacklustre state of England’s attacking game.

England kicked off without regular captain Owen Farrell, the son of Ireland coach Andy Farrell, after Red Rose boss Steve Borthwick decided to leave the flyhalf out of his matchday 23 amid an ongoing disciplinary saga.

Farrell faces an independent disciplinary panel on Tuesday after World Rugby, the sport’s global governing body, appealed against the decision to downgrade his red card for a high shoulder-led challenge on Taine Basham to yellow.

An original hearing’s overturning of the in-game decision made by the bunker review system during England’s 19-17 win over Wales at Twickenham last weekend sparked uproar throughout the global game.

George Ford took over at flyhalf from Farrell, with loose forward Courtney Lawes leading England.

Ford’s penalty gave England an early lead before Ireland – who defeated England in Dublin in March to seal a Six Nations Grand Slam – hit back through Aki’s try, after a fine break by Peter O’Mahony, with Ross Byrne adding a simple conversion.

Ringrose extended Ireland’s lead to 12-3 just before the end of the half when the centre capitalised on Hansen’s crossfield kick to dive over wide on the right.

With England down to 14 men after Vunipola was initially off the field for a yellow card, Lowe went over for a third try before fellow wing Hansen crossed following a fine long pass by flyhalf Byrne.

Sinckler scored from a pick-and-go before Earls celebrated his 100th cap with a spectacular diving effort in at the corner.

Ireland wrap up their warm-up campaign against Samoa in Bayonne a week on Saturday, when England face Fiji at Twickenham.

Man of the match: Ireland wing Mack Hansen deserves the award. He was a livewire during the 80 minutes and he scored a great try as well. Special mention must also go to his teammate James Lowe, who showed his finishing skills.

The scorers:

For Ireland:
Tries: Aki, Ringrose, Lowe, Hansen, Earls
Cons: Byrne, Crowley

For England:
Try: Sinckler
Con: Ford
Pen: Ford

Red card (upgraded from yellow card): Billy Vunipola (England, 56′ – foul play, dangerous tackle)

Teams:

Ireland: 15 Hugo Keenan, 14 Mack Hansen, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 James Lowe, 10 Ross Byrne, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park. 8 Cian Prendergast, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Peter O’Mahony, 5 James Ryan (captain), 4 Tadhg Beirne, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Dan Sheehan, 1 Andrew Porter.
Replacements: 16 Rob Herring, 17 Jeremy Loughman, 18 Finlay Bealham, 19 Joe McCarthy, 20 Caelan Doris, 21 Conor Murray, 22 Jack Crowley, 23 Keith Earls

England: 15 Freddie Steward, 14 Anthony Watson, 13 Joe Marchant, 12 Manu Tuilagi, 11 Elliot Daly, 10 George Ford, 9 Ben Youngs, 8. Billy Vunipola, 7. Ben Earl, 6. Courtney Lawes (captain), 5 David Ribbans, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Will Stuart, 2 Jamie George, 1. Ellis Genge.
Replacements: 16 Theo Dan, 17 Joe Marler, 18 Kyle Sinckler, 19 Ollie Chessum, 20 Jack Willis, 21 Danny Care, 22 Marcus Smith, 23 Ollie Lawrence.

Referee: Paul Williams (New Zealand)
Assistant Referees: Craig Evans (Wales), Adam Jones (Wales)
TMO: Ben Whitehouse (Wales)

Additional reporting: AFP