England crush Ireland to finish second

England finished second in the Six Nations and boosted the chances of interim coach Stuart Lancaster becoming their permanent boss with a convincing 30-9 victory over Ireland at Twickenham on Saturday. A youthful English forward pack overpowered Ireland up front and that dominance was reflected when England scored a penalty try from a scrum heading into the final quarter. Then, seven minutes from time, replacement scrum-half Ben Youngs sealed England's win -- only their second in nine Six Nations matches against Ireland -- with a sniping try as England 'won' the second half 21-3. Victory gave Lancaster a record of four victories from five matches since he was appointed on a caretaker basis following Martin Johnson's post World Cup resignation. It also meant Lancaster had overseen his first Test win at Twickenham after champions Wales, who earlier on Saturday wrapped up the Grand Slam by beating France in Cardiff, won 19-12 in England's only other home match this tournament. "The players were outstanding," said Lancaster, who refused to be drawn on his future in the job. "That's for others to decide. But if you told me that one day I would be applauding 80,000 people at Twickenham with a bunch of lads I respect, I would have taken that." England's Owen Farrell kicked 20 points, with the 20-year-old fly-half again showing an impressive temperament. All of Ireland's points came courtesy of three penalties from fly-half Jonathan Sexton. Delighted England No 8 Ben Morgan, the man-of-the-match who, like Farrell, was given his Test chance by Lancaster, told the BBC: "Coming out here in the wet and performing like that against a tough Irish side was incredible. "We've only been together for eight weeks now but the team Stuart Lancaster has brought in has just made us grow. "We've shown how much potential we've got and credit to Stuart for coming in and creating the environment to showcase what we can do." England, on a day when rain made conditions tough for running rugby, took an early lead after Farrell kicked a 48 metre penalty after an Irish scrum offence. Ireland centre Keith Earls threatened England's line before being bundled into touch while full-back Rob Kearney, looking to turn the visitors' pressure into points, then saw an audacious long-range drop-goal attempt hit the post. But Ireland equalised when, after England centre Brad Barritt was offside, Sexton kicked a 16th minute penalty. England's pack gradually started to get on top and Farrell, son of England backs coach Andy, kicked his second penalty after Ireland illegally booted the ball out of a ruck. Perhaps mindful of the wet conditions -- which led to several knock-ons, especially under the high ball -- England squandered a couple of promising overlaps and kicked away possession they might have run instead. But another solid England scrum created a routine penalty chance which Farrell converted five minutes before the break. But Irish pressure at a ruck on the stroke of half-time gave Sexton an easy penalty shot and England were now just three points in front. Blindside England flanker Tom Croft, who scored a superb solo try in last weekend's win over France in Paris, then burst through the Irish cover only to drop the ball as he contemplated a pass. However, England's pack forced Ireland into collapsing the ensuing scrum and Farrell's fourth penalty made it 12-6. England won another scrum soon after the re-start but Morgan knocked-on after charging off the back of the set-piece and that led to a penalty which Sexton kicked to again cut the English lead to three points. But England had a five-metre scrum after full-back Ben Foden forced Ireland replacement Tomas O'Leary into carrying the ball over his own line. England drove hard and the Irish scrum stood up only for referee Nigel Owens to blow for a penalty as they took the ball over the line. However, from the ensuing scrum England's front row again demolished their Ireland counterparts and this time the Welsh official awarded a penalty try. Farrell added the easy conversion and England were now two scores in front before Youngs's tap and go try sealed a well-deserved success.