Round three is probably one of the most important rounds of
the tournament because this weekend is the match which will no doubt decide who
will win the grand slam as England travel to Ireland and today Stuart Lancaster
announced his squad.
There have been three changes made to the England set up,
the first being the obvious one as Alex Goode is back in a Red Rose shirt after
nearly a year away to replace Mike Brown who suffered a setback in his recovery
from a concussion he suffered against Italy.
Even though it’s a shame not to see Brown play I think this
is a blessing because to me the Harlequins fullback isn’t the same player for
last year and it’s good for him to have a break and find some form again. Also
Goode has been brilliant for Saracens in recent games, for example, he was
pulling the strings in the victory against Bath three weeks ago, so this is the
perfect timing for the 26 year old.
The other change to the starting line up is Jack Norwell
coming in for Jonny May and it’s easy to see why. Norwell has been brilliant in
recent weeks for Exeter and has been scoring tries for the Chiefs while May
hasn’t done anything substantial ad his form has dipped since scoring against
New Zealand in the Autumn International and I think it was the right choice to
leave him out.
I’ve got nothing against May I think he’s got great pace and
footwork to worry defenders, but wingers like Norwell and Christian Wade have
been brilliant for their clubs and at the moment are the two wings fighting to
get in the squad.
Personally, and I haven’t got anything against Goode but I’d
have liked to have seen Anthony Watson moved to fullback and have Norwell and
Wade on the wings and I could see them worrying the Ireland defence. What do
you think?
The last change is in the replacements with Newcastle’s Kieran
Brookes ruled out with a hip flexor strain and the Falcons prop has been
replaced by Bath’s Henry Thomas, who has shone since his teammate David Wilson
has been out with a neck injury and Thomas as gone to dominate the scrum for
the West Country side.
Meanwhile, Joe Schmidt announced his Ireland side a few
hours after Lancaster and there’s not much changed with Jordi Murphy slotting
in for the injured No.8 Jamie Heaslip while prop Jack McGrath held off
competition from Cian Healy to start against England.
The other change is in the replacements with fit again Tommy
O’Donnell taking a seat on the bench after recovering from a concussion and
scrum half Eion Reddan replaces Isaac Boss.
England and Ireland are the only remaining unbeaten sides in
the Six Nation, with Lancaster’s men are seeking a fifth straight victory over
Irish as Schmidt’s side are looking to retain their title.
Even though there are two other fixtures this weekend with
Scotland wanting to make an impact against Italy and Wales go to France and
it’s hard to see which team will win this match, but if you’re an English,
Irish or just a neutral you won’t care much about the other fixtures.
So back to the game which matters and the important battle
of the fly halfs with George Ford wanting to prove himself against Jonny Sexton
and frankly Ford has nothing to lose with everyone, including himself, thinking
Sexton will win the battle.
One player, which will be targeted by Ireland is Jonathan
Joseph with the Bath centre electrifying the tournament with his skill and
footwork while I think his teammate Luther Burrell needs a big game because I
haven’t seen him at his best at the moment. I still think these two make the
best centre partnership, but with Manu Tuilagi travelling with the squad it
could put pressure on the Northampton man.
The result is going to be super close, but I’m standing behind England and say they’ll win by two.
I would just like to mention this weekend could be a big one
for a certain Henry Slade with all eyes on the Exeter fly half has the Chief’s
take on Bath on Saturday and if he’s able to produce the star studded
performance as he did last week I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s in the squad
for next week.
Starting Line – Up
Rob Kearney
– 15 – Alex Goode
Tommy Bowe –
14 – Anthony Watson
Jared Payne
– 13 – Jonathan Joseph
Robbie
Henshaw – 12 – Luther Burrell
Simon Zebo –
11 – Jack Norwell
Jonny Sexton
– 10 – George Ford
Conor Murray
– 9 – Ben Youngs
Jack McGrath
– 1 – Joe Marler
Rory Best –
2 – Dylan Hartley
Mike Ross –
3 – Dan Cole
Devin Toner
– 4 – Dave Attwood
Paul
O’Connell – 5 – George Kruis
Peter
O’Mahony – 6 – James Haskell
Sean O’Brien
– 7 – Chris Robshaw (c)
Jordi Murphy
– 8 – Billy Vunipola
Replacements
Sean Cronin
– 16 – Tom Youngs
Cian Healy –
17 – Mako Vunipola
Martin Moore
– 18 – Henry Thomas
Iain
Henderson – 19 – Nick Easter
Tommy
O’Donnell – 20 – Tom Croft
Eoin Reddan
– 21 – Richard Wigglesworth
Ian Mudigan
– 22 – Danny Cipriani
Felix Jones
– 23 – Billy Twelvetrees
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