England win narrowly in Dublin

Stapleton goes over for Ireland's try

The first half took place almost entirely in the middle third of the field. Ireland had most of the possession and tried to move the ball wide at every opportunity, but could rarely find any gaps in the England line. England, on the other hand, relied more on their forwards but were frustrated by an initially malfunctioning lineout which allowed the Irish to escape potentially threatening positions.

Only when the lineout began to function did England look like scoring. A play starting from one such set piece ended with Danielle Waterman just being held up on the line. Ireland escaped that, but a repeat a few minutes later saw Victoria Fleetwood find space from the back of a maul, the ball then working its way to Rocky Clark who, on her 115thcap, scored in the corner.

A few minutes later Ireland tried a change of tactics, Nora Stapleton kicking for touch to a point 10m from the England line. Irish pressure then forced a penalty in front of the posts which Stapleton converted. Halftime – Ireland 3, England 5.

The second half began with Ireland on the front foot, England finding it impossible to get out of their own half for the first 20 minutes. Ireland's first visit to the England 22 in the half resulted a try for Stapleton, who seized on a loose ball to find a gap and touch down. Her conversion put Ireland 10-5 ahead.

Some great work by Fleetwood and Fiona Pocock for England finally laid the siege. A forward pass denied Fleetwood a try for the second time in the game, but England had now won the initiative and never really let it go again.

Ireland defended well, and looked to have escaped through Paula Fitzpatrick, but a penalty against her for holding on resulted in an England lineout 10m out. Ireland failed to organise their defence to the resulting maul in time, and Izzy Noel Smith got the vital touch.

The scores were tied at 10-10, but Katie Mclean hit an excellent conversion from wide on the left to put England on top.

Ireland battled hard but could find no way through. A pinpoint kick from Stapleton briefly forced England back on their line, but it was not enough as England recorded their second narrow win in the Autumn series.

IRELAND:Mairead Coyne (Galwegians/Connacht); Niamh Kavanagh (UL Bohemians/Munster), Nicole Fowley (Galwegians/Connacht), Sene Naoupu (Aylesford Bulls), Alison Miller (Old Belvedere/Connacht); Nora Stapleton (Old Belvedere/Leinster), Larissa Muldoon (Railway Union); Lindsay Peat (Railway Union/Leinster), Cliodhna Moloney (Railway Union/Leinster), Ailis Egan (Old Belvedere/Leinster), Marie Louise Reilly (Old Belvedere/Leinster), Orla Fitzsimons (St. Mary's/Leinster), Ciara Griffin (UL Bohemians/Munster), Claire Molloy (Bristol/Connacht), Paula Fitzpatrick (St. Mary's/Leinster) (capt).Replacements:Leah Lyons (Highfield/Munster), Fiona Hayes (UL Bohemians/Munster), Fiona Reidy (UL Bohemians/Munster), Katie Norris (Blackrock/Leinster), Chloe Pearse (UL Bohemians/Munster), Mary Healy (Galwegians/Connacht), Nikki Caughey (Railway Union/Ulster), Jackie Shiels (Old Belvedere/Leinster).ENGLAND:Danielle Waterman (Bristol); Kay Wilson (Richmond), Claire Allan (Saracens), Rachael Burford (Aylesford Bulls), Fiona Pocock (Aylesford Bulls); Emily Scott (Saracens), La Toya Mason (Darlington Mowden Park Sharks); Rochelle Clark (Worcester Valkyries), Vicky Fleetwood (Saracens), Laura Keates (Worcester Valkyries), Tamara Taylor (Darlington Mowden Park Sharks), Harriet Millar-Mills (Lichfield), Izzy Noel Smith (Bristol), Marlie Packer (Bristol), Sarah Hunter (Bristol) (capt).Replacements:Amy Cokayne (Lichfield), Vickii Cornborough (Aylesford Bulls), Sarah Bern (Bristol), Poppy Cleall (Bristol), Izzy Noel-Smith (Bristol), Natasha Hunt (Lichfield), Katy Mclean (Darlington Mowden Park Sharks), Ceri Large (Worcester Valkyries).