Ireland’s 21-point win at Twickenham was built on red-zone efficiency, dominance in the kicking battle and exploitation of England’s weaknesses in the wide channels. We break down the data behind a statement victory in the Six Nations.
Some may have anticipated a 21-point victory in west London on Saturday, but few would have expected that winning margin to belong to Ireland.
The visitors travelled to Twickenham having been comfortably beaten by France in Round 1, before an unconvincing victory at home to Italy, to face an England side who had won their last nine at Allianz Stadium.
21 – @IrishRugby have beaten England by 20+ points in a men's Test match at Twickenham for the very first time. Monumental. pic.twitter.com/fsci7rYSYX
— OptaJonny (@OptaJonny) February 21, 2026Yet against England, Ireland were everything they had not been in the opening two rounds. They played with clarity, intensity and, most importantly, ruthless efficiency.
Andy Farrell’s men made nine forays into the England 22 on Saturday and came away with points on seven separate occasions. At a 78% conversion rate, that is the best rate of any team in a single game so far in this year’s Six Nations.
England, despite making three more 22 entries than their opponents, converted just 25% of theirs. Only Italy, against Ireland and France, have recorded a lower rate in a match in 2026.
Many of those red-zone opportunities came from Ireland being clinical after breaking the England line.
A glance at the stats might suggest that the sides were fairly equal in defence. England missed 28 tackles to Ireland’s 29. However, it was the work (or perhaps lack of it) after those defensive lapses which really set the sides apart.
Ireland managed to scramble and stop the attack from 83% of their missed tackles, while England did so on just 57% of theirs, conceding either a try or a line break from the remaining 43%. That is an incredibly damaging figure.
The more concerning aspect for England is where those failures occurred.
Half of the line breaks they conceded against Ireland came within 10 metres of the touchline and that has been an issue so far in this year’s Six Nations. Overall, England have conceded 24 line breaks, with a joint-high 58% coming in those channels.
It’s a rate that is level with Scotland, but Gregor Townsend’s side have conceded just 12 line breaks in total, the fewest in the tournament and fewer than England have conceded on the wings alone.
The same pattern appears in the tackle data. Of England’s 74 missed tackles in the 2026 Six Nations, 30% have come in those 10-metre channels, once again the highest rate of any team.
Defensive failures out wide are more damaging than in the middle of the pitch where things are more congested. In this year’s Six Nations almost half (49%) of all missed tackles in the 10-metre channels have led to a try or line break, compared to just 31% from the section of the pitch between those areas. For line breaks themselves, 45% in the wide channels result in a try, compared to 32% infield.
This has been a theme for England so far, with Scotland and then Ireland finding gaps. Huge credit has to go to both sides for identifying and exploiting their opponent’s weakness in this area, while England will have plenty to think about over the next couple of weeks before taking on an Italy side who also have the tools to do damage out wide.
Another area Ireland managed to dominate was the kicking battle. Interestingly, England’s number of kicks dropped drastically against Ireland compared to their usual averages. In their opening game, England emphatically defeated Wales, making 42 kicks during the game – a tally that remains the most in the tournament this year.
However, that number has dropped week-on-week and saw them make just 18 against Ireland, with only Scotland – who made just 13 against Wales that same afternoon – kicking less in a match in this year’s Six Nations.
Often, the number of kicks a team makes in a game can be dictated by the opposition, with teams making a similar number of kicks in a game. That was not the case here. Ireland averaged 33 kicks per game across their opening two fixtures and added 31 more against England.
This allowed the visitors to build territorial pressure and saw them gain 480 metres more from kicks than England. To put that into context, it’s the biggest differential between two teams in a Six Nations fixture since Opta have recorded this data (2021), as they pinned Steve Borthwick’s men back again and again.
Winning the kicking battle and being incredibly efficient when breaking the defensive line proved to be a lethal combination that England just couldn’t contain, with Ireland every bit deserving of their 21-point win.
With the next round of fixtures not taking place until March, Ireland will hope they don’t lose the momentum gained from this win, while England have two weeks to stew over a series of disappointing results before getting back out on the pitch against Italy in Rome.
An Update on the Six Nations Expected Points Table
England may have suffered a couple of disappointing defeats over the last two weeks, but they sit top of the expected points table after Round 3 of this year’s Six Nations. So there – who’s laughing now?!
Steve Borthwick’s men have won the expected points battle in each of their three matches and sit narrowly ahead of France who are still on course for both a real and hypothetical Grand Slam.
Scotland are hot on the tails of the top two, followed by Italy and Wales, while Ireland sit bottom of the table, further evidence of their efficiency so far in the Championship. They’ve managed to take their chances over the last couple of matches while soaking up opposition pressure.
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Outflanked: How Ireland Exposed England’s Defensive Issues Out Wide Opta Analyst.
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