England's hopes of landing their first Grand Slam of Stuart Lancaster’s reign have been dashed again as Ireland deservedly earned a victory that leaves them red-hot favourites to retain their Six Nations title. Lancaster’s men rarely threatened reproduce the form that saw them open the Championship with wins over Wales and Italy as Robbie Henshaw’s second-half try, allied to 14 points from the boot of Jonny Sexton, inflicted a demoralising defeat on the visitors. England travelled across the Irish Sea with high hopes of making it three wins from three but were persistently penalised at the breakdown by referee Craig Joubert as they struggled to gain a foothold in the match. VIDEO - Scroll down to see clips from the game . Robbie Henshaw (left) goes over the line to score a try for Ireland and take the game away from England in the Six Nations . Henshaw (left) had to collect a high ball to go over for the opening try, which was scored in the 52nd minute of the game . Henshaw's (right) try brought the Aviva Stadium to life as Ireland beat England in style in the Six Nations . England's players look dejected after they conceded the opening try of the match against Ireland and Henshaw . Henshaw (centre) is congratulated by his Ireland team-mate Jared Payne after scoring the try against England . While not as comprehensive as the 2013 defeat to Wales at the Millennium Stadium, or indeed their loss to Ireland on the same Aviva Stadium turf in 2011, in some ways this was just as demoralising in a home World Cup year. There were some fine individual performances from England, with Billy Vunipola outstanding at No8, but collectively the visitors were no match for Joe Schmidt’s unbeaten Irish. England, desperate for some silverware three years into Lancaster’s tenure, must now regroup to face Scotland and France at Twickenham but they will do in the knowledge their Grand Slam hopes have been shattered again. They retain a small chance of winning the Championship, but that will prove of little comfort in the light of this comprehensive defeat. Dublin was lashed by wind, rain and sleet in the hours before kick off but mercifully the weather relented to leave the Aviva Stadium pitch slippery but not treacherous. England had made two changes to their starting line-up from the side that beat Italy a fortnight ago with Jack Nowell preferred to Jonny May on the left wing and Alex Goode replacing Mike Brown after the Harlequins full back failed to recover from concussion he suffered against the Azzurri. Johnny Sexton was clinical with his kicking and the points he scored provided the backbone for Ireland's victory . Richard Wrigglesworth (left), George Kruis and Chris Robhaw react to England's defeat against Ireland . Conor Murray (centre) passes the ball out from the ruck in Ireland's game against England on Sunday . Ben Youngs (centre) of England is tackled by Sexton (second left) and Rory Best (right) of Ireland . Luther Burrell (centre) of England is hauled down by Ireland's Sexton in the clash at the Aviva Stadium . Ireland: Kearney, Bowe, Payne, Henshaw, Zebo, Sexton, Murray, McGrath, Best, Ross, Toner, O'Connell, O'Mahony, O'Brien, Murphy. Tries: Henshaw . Penalties: Sexton (4) England: Goode, Watson, Joseph, Burrell, Nowell, Ford, Youngs, Marler, Hartley, Cole, Attwood, Kruis, Haskell, Robshaw, B Vunipola. Penalties: Ford (2) Drop goals: Ford . Referee: Craig Joubert . Attendance: 51,500 . Jordi Murphy was Ireland’s only change as he started at No8 in place of Jamie Heaslip, who is recovering from the broken vertebra in his back, caused by an intentional knee from France lock Pascal Pape which led to a 10-week ban. Ireland went into the game on the back of a nine-match winning run, including autumn victories over Australia and South Africa, while England were buoyed by a four-game unbeaten run against today’s hosts. England were desperate to avoid another slow start after going behind in both their first two games of the Championship but, following a lengthy pre-match build up which left the players on the field for several minutes prior to kick off, they were sluggish out of the blocks again. George Ford turned over the ball on the half-way line seconds after kick off and James Haskell infringed at the breakdown after Ireland whipped the ball wide down the left. Jonny Sexton kicked the penalty from 40 metres, with barely two minutes on the clock, before England conceded another penalty from the kick off and Ireland roared back into their opponents half. With the capacity crowd behind Ireland, Sexton hoisted an awkward cross kick which Nowell was unable to gather and the Irish forwards thundered at England with wave after wave of attacks. Another penalty was conceded under the posts, which Sexton converted, as England found themselves 6-0 down having barely drawn breath. The visitors finally gained some sustained possession and Ford was influential in stretching the Irish defence as Luther Burrell and Ben Youngs both made telling incursions before the England fly half slotted a neat drop goal on 12 minutes to get his side on the scoreboard. Ford missed a long-range penalty attempt and England blew another excellent chance after fine build-up play saw Ford kick a penalty to touch only for Dylan Hartley to throw straight to Devin Toner and allow Ireland to clear. Alex Goode (centre) blasts the ball clear to relieve the pressure on England from Ireland in the Six Nations game . Sexton (right) of Ireland tackles Ford (left) of England during the Six Nations game at the Aviva Stadium . Conor Murray (second right) clears the ball upfield as James Haskell (right) of England attempts to smother . Simon Zebo (centre) is tackled by the England pair of Jonathan Jospeh and Anthony Watson in the Six Nations encounter . Simon Zebo (centre) of Ireland clings to the ball as England's Jonathan Jospeh challenges for possession . Dave Attwood (upper left) of England wins the line-out ball under pressure from Peter O'Mahoney (right) of Ireland . George Ford replied for England but Stuart Lancaster's side could not run Ireland close in the game at the Aviva Stadium . Ireland flanker Sean O’Brien was taken off after 24 minutes after he was seen lying prone on the floor before attempting to stand up, only to lurch and stagger alarmingly as he battled the medics to stay on. The flanker did not return. Sexton kicked his third penalty as Ireland went 9-3 in front with 30 minutes gone but the fly half could not stretch Ireland’s lead further when he missed a difficult penalty attempt after Anthony Watson was penalised for off-side. Ireland took a six-point lead in at half time as England clung on after 40 minutes that saw that repeatedly penalised by South African referee Craig Joubert. Ireland were fastest out of the blocks in the second half and a sharp break by Conor Murray saw Robbie Henshaw hack through only for Goode to save the day for England with some brilliant defensive work behind the posts. Joubert again penalised England at the breakdown on 47 minutes and Sexton extended his side’s lead to nine points with his fourth penalty and Ireland struck the killer blow when Murray chiped deep into England’s dead-ball area and Henshaw out-jumped Goode to touch down. Robbie Henshaw (left) receives treatment during the game against England but was fit enough to continue and score a try for Ireland . Both sides new that victory would give them the upper hand in the race to win the RBS Six Nations . England's players line up for the national anthem prior to the start of their game against Ireland at the Aviva Stadium . Sexton’s conversion made it 19-3 after 53 minutes and it was impossible to see a way back for England. Ford added his first penalty to chip away at Ireland’s lead after a bulldozing run by Billy Vunipola and gave his side hope after 67 minutes with another three points . It proved a false hope as Ireland held on. Even Jack Nowell’s late try attempt was chalked off when Joubert spotted a forward pass. It summed up England’s day.
Jonny Sexton led the way for Ireland with four penalties and Robbie Henshaw scored a try . The victory for Ireland leaves them in the strongest position to win the Six Nations with two games remaining . England hopes of winning the competition are now out of their hands .