After "Boring" Six Nations Now Looking Towards The Rugby World Cup

“I’ve actually got big concerns about the game at the moment, because there are not enough tries being scored, which is turning the fans away.

“I don’t think you can isolate it and say it’s a northern hemisphere problem, it’s a problem in the game and if we don’t address it, then we are going to get very boring rugby matches.

“But in the games I’ve seen in this Six Nations, I haven’t seen teams wanting to move the ball because they know they can’t. It’s about planning the right kick next to win the game.”

These were the thoughts of New Zealand head coach Steve Hansen a few weeks back and I think it’s safe to say Northern hemisphere rugby is anything but boring after 221 points and 27 tries were scored in three titan clashes across Europe.

Everyone is now just getting their breath back, whilst those supporting Ireland will be recovering for a month after week of drinking as they won the six nations trophy in the same week as St Patricks Day.

Now it’s time to reflect  on what will be seen as missed chances as England had a handful against Scotland, but failed to capitalise and they also had a chance to score a late try against Ireland if only Billy Twelvetrees' pass to Jack Nowell wasn’t forward.

However, England’s performance against France was one of the greatest spectacles I’ve seen in a long time as Stuart Lancaster’s men played with no fear and this should put us in good stead for the World Cup.

Also, the fact we’ve beaten all the home nations in the last two years at Twickenham should turn the home of rugby into a fortress of rugby and if you look at the team as a whole I think we should be confident in reaching the semi finals of the World Cup.

With players like Dave Wilson, Joe Launchbury, Ben Morgan, Owen Farrell, Brad Barritt, Manu Tuilagi and Ben Foden still on their way to returning, the Southern hemisphere big boys should be worried by our strength in depth.

It’s not just them - players across the Aviva Premiership have staked a claim to be in the squad and a good handful are from Exeter with Dave Ewels, Thomas Waldrom, Henry Slade and Sam Hill. Plus, you have Elliot Daly and Christian Wade from Wasps and if only Nathan Hughes was eligible he would have been our starting No.8.

I know everyone will make a case for their player(s) for their respective club, but it shows how good we can and should be in six months time when England kick off against Fiji.

If we fast forward six months quickly and have a think of who would be starting in the opening match I think we should keep faith with the team, which thumbed France on Saturday, and then look to make changes for the Wales and Australia games.

One player who I think should be leading the attack is George Ford. He has really come of age in this tournament and he makes the team attack and much like Danny Cipirani he has the x factor and I think teams in our pool will be watching tapes of how to cancel him out.

If that happens then Owen Farrell is a good replacement and despite not offering much in attack, he’s a consistent kicker and has a good defence.

Then the attack can speak for itself with three or four more changes, with one position that is still open being inside centre. Even though I rate Luther Burrell highly and he does an excellent job and has built a great partnership with Jonathan Joseph, the Northampton man made some mistakes in key areas in this Six Nations.

Plus, it also comes down to what sort of 12 you want either the running hard, breaking gainline type or what Sir Clive Woodward has been asking for with a skilful, footballing type player so I think there’ll be a four way between Burrell, Barritt, Tuilagi and Slade.

There’s a chance we will see them all play too, as we host France and Ireland whilst also travelling to Paris and there might be a chance to see a certain Steffon Armitage playing in an England shirt in the French capital.

Whatever happens from now till 18th September there’s a lot of Aviva Premiership and Champions/Challenge Cup matches to figure out who will start against Fiji.

There’s my starting 15 v Fiji:
1. Alex Corbisiero

2. Dylan Hartley

3. Dan Cole

4. Joe Launchbury

5. Courtney Lawes

6. Tom Wood

7. Chris Robshaw (C)

8. Ben Morgan

9. Joe Simpson

10. George Ford

11. Jack Nowell

12. Luther Burrell/Manu Tuilagi

13. Jonathan Joseph

14. Anthony Watson

15. Mike Brown

Replacements

16. Tom Youngs

17. Joe Marler

18. Kieran Brookes

19. Dave Attwood

20. Steffon Armitage

21. Ben Youngs

22. Henry Slade

23. Christian Wade

Do you agree? Let me know your starting 15.

BT and Premiership Rugby Extend Their Friendship

On Monday Premiership Rugby chief executive Mark McCafferty announced the top flight of English rugby will be staying with BT Sport until the end of the 2020-21 campaign.

McCafferty said "BT Sport has been a fantastic partner for English club rugby so we are delighted that we have been able to extend our relationship with them for a further four years. This is the longest TV agreement in the history of Premiership Rugby.

"In the 18 months we have been on-air with them our live TV audiences have grown by 50 per cent, so it is clear that the partnership is going from strength to strength.

"In almost two seasons of coverage broadcasting the Aviva Premiership BT Sport has set new standards for the live broadcast of rugby. Their innovative style has received great acclaim and we look forward to developing the partnership over the next six seasons" added McCafferty.

I was worried after BT splashed out £900 million on the executive rights to broadcast the Champions League and Europa League, which has cost them to lose the rights to the Top 14, MLS and a smaller chunk of Premier League football.

However, McCafferty's last quote is something I want to talk about because in recent years viewers have been complaining about the coverage of rugby on Sky and BBC and let's not even talk about why ITV have the broadcasting rights to the Rugby World Cup.

It comes down to the fact BT have been smashing it and showing the other broadcasters how rugby coverage should be done.

It starts with Craig Doyle, whose relaxed presenting style makes not only the viewers at home feel comfortable, but the guests on the show as well, and his conversations with guests and pundits are brilliant. Unlike some presenters on certain sporting broadcasters Doyle knows what he's talking about.

Like everyone else, Stuart Barnes’ coverage annoys me while I’m also not a big fan of Brian Moore’s complaining regarding the scrum. I think this is down to Ben Kay's 'Gary Neville like' game analysts which fans of the game and new viewers of the sport find interesting and useful. 

Much like World Cup winner Lawrence Dallaglio, who also has brilliant analysis from a forwards point of view, you also have Austin Healy and Matt Dawson gives the point of view from a backs perspective which is why in recent months Healy has been highlighting the flaws in the scrum and calling for there to be some changes.

Holding down the fort at BT, the unsung heroes are Nick Mullins and Alastair Eykyn, who do their jobs whilst Kay and Healy fight like brothers trying to be dad's favourite.

On Sunday's I see tweets from fans on the @btsportrugby page praising the guest who is on the Sunday show with the two most popular are Luther Burrell and Henry Slade. Then, for Rugby Tonight they bring in big name players with their biggest show to date being the Six Nations special when they had the likes of Sam Warburton, Chris Robshaw, the Vunipola Brothers, Stuart Hogg, Owen Farrell, George North, Maun Tuilagi and Andrew Trimble. You have to admit that's a pretty decent guest list.

The demos have become interesting and useful for kids to go to their local rugby club and practise in order to become the next Warburton or North. Plus, it gives coaches ideas for their practise sessions.

BT couldn't have extended their contract if it wasn't for the talent and guests, but it wouldn't be as highly acclaimed if it wasn't for the behind the scenes people at Sunset and Vine who make Doyle and co look good.

So here's to more great rugby on the home of Premiership rugby BT where I am proud to be a small part of the team.

England Need To Go To Finishing School

England 25 – 13 Scotland

England have still got a chance of winning the Six Nations trophy, beating Scotland in a game which will be remembered for missed chances that we could regret not taking. We will have to wait and see in the title decider against France next weekend.

Tries from Jonathan Joseph, George Ford and Jack Nowell, but it should have been more as Luther Burrell, Nowell, Tom Youngs, Anthony Watson and Mike Brown all had chances to offload or delay their run and if these chances were taken it could have been a 50 plus win and that result would have been huge regarding points difference.

Ford, who had his best game to date in an England shirt and is really coming of age, has called for practice their finishing after admitting it will be a bitter pill to swallow should the Red Rose come up short next weekend saying “It was disappointing that we created so many opportunities but didn’t finish them off.

“We’re going to have to work hard to finish off these opportunities because it might come back to hurt us one day in an international game like that. If it hurts us in this Championship we will have to live with it, we are just going to prepare as well as we can this week that if we get the opportunities next week that we did today we will take them.”

This is what we have to do because, despite how the French having been playing recently, Les Blues will be coming to England full of strength and will want to put a marker down for the World Cup but we’ll worry about this after their game against Italy.

Back to the Scotland game, and it was hard for Stuart Lancaster’s men who went into the break 13 – 10 down after a well craved try by Mark Bennett brought Scotland back into the game, and it didn’t help we gave away silly penalties for Grieg Laidlaw to score.

At the kick off we saw something we haven’t seen from England this tournament we were on the front foot for a change as Burrell broke the Scottish defence in the first minute, but it was the first wasted opportunity as he failed to pass to Watson or offload to Ben Youngs. He also had a chance to set up Watson again on the half hour mark, only for Ford to pass forward.

Brown had two chances to get on the scoresheet either side of the half as he lost his boot whilst sprinting to the whitewash, but a try saving tackle by Stuart Hogg put an end to that dream return for the Harlequins fullback. The second half was an easier chance, but James Haskell was standing still and somehow managed to pass the ball forward.

Nowell had his chance taken away after making a good break before slipping and then in the second half replacement hooker Youngs also broke the gainline but there was no one in support.

Despite those negatives there was also a lot to be positive about in England’s performance. The first is the return of Courtney Lawes and it showed in the first five minutes how much we’ve missed his ‘no one shall pass’ defending which has become his hallmark along with his ‘Hulk smash’ big hits which are also a fan favourite.

It’s just not that, the Northampton lock’s workrate was to be admired and you wouldn’t expect it was his first game back for England since the Autumn Internationals playing the full 80 minutes. He was definitely Man of the Match.

The other player who was competing with Lawes for MotM was Bath fly half Ford as this was the game he came of age and ran the show with his kicking as the 21 year old was cool, calm and classy. He fully deserved his first test try and made umpteen chances and I can only see injury from stopping him becoming first choice fly half at the World Cup.

Those were the two stand out players for me against Scotland, but it was great to see the old Brown back and making a nuisance of himself in the high ball contest, while Nowell was getting into the game a lot more than a couple of weeks back against Ireland and getting plenty of ball in his hands. He too took his first test try well, but I’d still like to see Christan Wade playing on the wing.

Joseph also got into the game more adding another try to his collection whilst his partnership with Burrell is going to strength to strength and again if both stay fit then these two should be our centres for the World Cup.

Practicing our finishing will definitely be something to work on this week and I could see maybe an unchanged side, but there might be one player under pressure, which is Joe Marler as the prop gave away silly penalties in the scrum. Mako Vunipola or even Alex Corbisiero could come in for the Quins captain.

England Will Be Looking To Win And That's The Lawes

It’s been two weeks since England were bought back down to earth by Ireland to end any hope of winning the grand slam, however, with only two rounds to go the Red Rose have a slim chance of winning the tournament.

It begins this weekend as Scotland travel down to Twickenham to see if they can bounce back from the disappointing defeat to Italy to win the Calcutta Cup.

It’s been a strange tournament for Scotland because their performances against France and Wales showed they were able to compete with the big boys, and even though Italy were were also showing signs of improvement everyone including myself were expecting a Scotland win.

The Azzurri showcased a passionate performance to clinch the win and now it looked as if Vern Cotters men will be picking up the wooden spoon, but this is all forgotten as one of the oldest rivalries in rugby takes place at the home of rugby.

Scotland haven’t won at Twickenham since 1983, and Cotter has made five changes to his side in the hope of changing history with Edinburgh’s Dougie Fife and Matt Scott coming in for the injured Sean Lamont and Alex Dunbor, while club teammate David Denton has recovered from a calf strain to replace Johnnie Beattie.

Personally the two biggest and most important changes to the Scotland starting line up is the return of Finn Russell at fly half, and even though Peter Horne did his job he did miss the kick to touch which ultimately lost them the match against Italy.

Russell returning to the squad is a big boost as he has been at the centre point for Scotland moving forward and he’ll make sure he’s a thorn in Englands side. Along with another great kicking scrum half in Greg Laidlaw I wouldn’t be too surprised if they try to do what Ireland did and imply the kicking game.

Jim Hamilton also makes a comeback which should come as no surprise with the second row applying his trade with Saracens effectively. He comes with good knowledge of English rugby and the ex Gloucester man will also be commander and chief of the lineout.

Stuart Lancaster has also made changes to his squad as we see Courtney Lawes replacing George Kruis and Mike Brown has made a full recovery from concussion to return to fullback, pushing out Alex Goode.

It’s great to see Lawes back in an England shirt as he has been outstanding for Northampton since his return from injury. After the horror show in Ireland the second row will bring more command in the lineout and he will be carrying out the big hits and leave everything out on the field.

Meanwhile, with Brown back in the squad it means we finally have someone who will kick and chase as our kicking game at the Aviva Stadium was poor at best, with as no one actually chasing any of the high balls they kicked and putting pressure on Rob Kearney in the contest. The game really highlighted how badly we missed Brown.

I think we will see the Harlequins fullback at his best as he’s had a rest from rugby and will be fully charged to the destructive quality that won him player of the tournament last year.

There’s also three changes made in the replacements as Kieran Brookes has come back in for the injured Henry Thomas. This change was always likely to happen even if Thomas wasn’t injured.

We also have Geoff Parling and Tom Wood back in the fold and this is great news because with Parling we have a safe pair of hands and his partnership with Lawes will also be really beneficial.

The return of Wood is also a great thing: he was another player we missed in the defeat to Ireland and I would have liked to seen him replace James Haskell. Even though I like Wasps captain as a player, and he plays his heart out for England, I think Wood is just that little bit better.

The one player who annoys me until he is no longer in an England shirt is Lancaster’s pet dog Billy Twelvetrees. Why is this man still picked over the likes of Henry Slade, Kyle Eastmond and now Elliot Daly?

Twelvetrees has done nothing good in an England shirt. You can say “Oh, he played well against Wales and Italy” and fine, I’ll concede his play secured the win against Wales, but frankly he did nothing in the game against Italy. 

I will use the Ireland game as an example of how useless he is for England as the Gloucester captain had one job to pass to Jack Nowell to score what could still have been an important two points.

What does he do – passes the ball forward! Compared to Danny Cipirani or any of the centres I’ve mentioned, Twelvetrees has the creativity of a plank of wood.

Starting Line Up

Mike Brown - 15 - Stuart Hogg

Anthony Watson - 14 - Dougie Fife

Jonathan Joseph - 13 - Mark Bennett

Luther Burrell - 12 - Matt Scott

Jack Nowell - 11 - Tommy Seymour

George Ford - 10 - Finn Russell

Ben Youngs - 9 - Greig Laidlaw (c)

Joe Marler - 1 - Alasdair Dickinson

Dylan Hartley - 2 - Ross Ford

Dan Cole - 3 - Euan Murray

Dave Attwood - 4 - Jim Hamilton

Courtney Lawes - 5 - Jonny Gray

James Haskell - 6 - Rob Harley

(c) Chris Robshaw - 7 - Blair Cowan

Billy Vunipola - 8 - David Denton

Replacements

Tom Youngs - 16 - Fraser Brown

Mako Vunipola - 17 - Ryan Grant

Kieran Brookes - 18 - Geoff Cross

Geoff Parling - 19 - Tim Swinson

Tom Wood - 20 - John Beattie

Richard Wigglesworth - 21 - Adam Ashe

Danny Cipriani - 22 - Sam Hidalgo - Clyne

Billy Twelvetrees - 23 - Greig Tonks

Only Five Rounds Left To Fight For The Play Offs

Aviva Premiership Round 17

The Aviva Premiership takes a few weeks off to relax after an action packed round 17 with all eyes looking at the top four, as any team from second all the way down to seventh can make it into the play offs.

It all started on Friday night as Bath got back to winning ways after losing three on the bounce and only getting 10 points from their last six league games to secure a 12 – 3 victory over Sale at the Rec.

Tom Homer kicked all of the host’s points while Danny Cipirani came back from the England camp to add the solitary kick for the visitors in a game so dull watching paint dry would have been a decent alternative.

Meanwhile, on Saturday, champions Northampton scraped a 33 – 33 draw against Gloucester with a late Samu Monoa try and Stephen Myler conversion to keep Saints at the top of the table.

Charlie Sharples and Richard Hibbard crossed the whitewash in the first half for the Cherry and Whites, but James Wilson scored a double either side of Dan Murphy’s score and it looked like Gloucester were on to secure a victory until Monoa ruined the party.

Exeter Chiefs followed up their famous victory over Bath by humiliating London Welsh 74 – 19 to move up to second in the league.

Chiefs gave the Sandy Park faithful a show by scoring ten tries, including two from the league’s top try scorer Tom Waldrom, two penalty tries and a further six from Will Chudley, Tom James, Jack Yeandle, Matt Jess, Henry Slade and Ian Whitten.

At the Stoop, Harlequins finally ended a five match losing streak to hold on for a 26 – 20 win against London Irish.

Both sides scored two tries each as James Short and Tom Fowlie dotted down for Irish, whilst Danny Care and Matt Hooper touched down for Quins with Nick Evans kicking 16 points it keeps their slim chances of progressing to the play offs alive.

The weekend finished off with two tries which will be contenders for try of the season from Wasps Christan Wade and Elliot Daly but sadly it wasn’t enough as Saracens won 26 – 17.

Sarries are the first team to topple Wasps since they’ve moved to the Ricoh Arena as tries from Jackson Wray and Chris Wyles turned things around and they were helped by the returning boot of Alex Goode.

The final game of round 17 saw Tommy Bell steal a late victory for Leicester at Kingston Park, which means Welsh can still call themselves a Premiership team for the time being.

It looked like the Falcons were going to hold on to the win after tries from Scott Lawson and Sinoti Sinoti but the 16 - 12 victory means Tigers moved up to fifth and are on the same number of points as Bath.

There Was No Luck Needed For The Irish! They Were Just Better!

Ireland 19 – 9 England

Ireland claimed an impressive victory over England with Robbie Henshaw scoring the only try of the match and it was also the centres first international try for the Shamrocks.

Joe Schmidt’s men lead by captain Paul O’Connell and fly half Jonny Sexton opened the English defence with ease, grated England made it easy for the Irish by giving away sloppy penalties in kickable areas for Sexton.

Even though this was one of the worst performances I’ve seen England play. You cannot take anything away from Ireland they were superb and exploited England in pretty much in every department and you may disagree and say “oh England threw it away” and “the ref gave terrible decisions against us” and you’re right but I think Ireland were the better side in attack, defence, set piece and of course kicking.

I don’t get no joy in saying this because I know a few Irish supporters and they are going to be mightily smug. One of them even tweeted me saying “Pog mo thoin Sasana” which, if you don’t know your Gaelic means “Kiss my ass England”.

However, as much as I can praise Ireland we need to talk about what happened to Stuart Lancaster’s men.

The first is the common curse for this England side, which is they don’t start well in the opening quarter of a match and in this tournament alone, they’ve conceded around 24 points in the first 15 mins of the last three rounds. This is not good enough for a team looking to win the grand slams, let alone the World Cup in 200 days and this needs to stop to have any chance to compete.

People will be taking how bad the defending was and right to say so, but it was our attack which were conceding some of the penalties and this was down to many things such as the time it took Ben Youngs to get to the breakdown. Everyone knows how good Ireland are at getting to the breakdown and too many times they won the turnover.

Ireland could have won less turnover ball if Youngs decided to pull his finger out and got to the ruck quicker. Too many times the Leicester scrum half got to the ruck and slowed the game down, which was to the host’s advantage and I think he should be dropped because not only for his performance in this game but he’s been at best average against Wales and Italy.

It’s time to bring some pace into the half backs and the one scrum half who has been Mr. Consistent in the Premiership this season is Joe Simpson. The Wasps speedster is what the position needs and Simpson has the pace, footwork and quick thinking England needs and he would have a great partnership with George Ford.

Speaking of Ford even though he didn’t have his best game it wasn’t great as Sexton showed why he’s one of the best 10’s in the world and made England youngster his bitch and yeah, Ford scored a few penalties but the overall kicking game was terrible. 

Why did we continually kick to Simon Zebo? Was he highlighted as a possible weakness under the high ball because it didn’t work. It was the same for every high ball throughout the game Ford, Youngs or Alex Goode would kick but there was no one chasing!!!

This highlighted how badly we missed Mike Brown because he would be competing for every high ball England or Ireland kicked and without Brown we’re much weaker.

The other problem the Red Rose had were at the set piece, Ireland dominated us in the scrum and line out and even though we should have gone for the kickable penalty which would have made the score 6 – 6 I understand why Chris Robshaw went for a line out. 

England were phenomenal during the Autumn Internationals as we won 92% at the line out and they backed themselves and knowing if they won the ball, their maul could have set up a try and I respect that.

Ultimately, it didn’t work mainly because O’Connell and Devin Toner are brilliant at winning opposition line out ball and then when England got to the scrum, Ireland had a field day, there was nothing the English pack could do the Irish eight were just too strong.

Now comes the defence and personally I don’t think it was that bad compare to the above because they defended their line excellently, but it wasn’t great as we gave away silly penalties and now with Courtney Lawes back playing, he’s going to be in the squad, but as a replacement because it’d be disrespectful to Dave Attwood and George Kruis if Lawes come straight back into the starting 15.

Now England need to make changes to the squad and first to go is Billy Twelvetrees. The Gloucester captain proved how crap he is in the cameo he made yesterday and how many good games has he truly had in the 19 caps he’s played for England. I don’t even care who replaces him I’d happily have Kyle Eastmond or Henry Slade instead because they’re better players.

As I’ve mentioned before, I think it’s time to drop Youngs and bring Simpson in, just because I think the Wasps scrum half can offer more or maybe give Richard Wigglesworth a starting place because he’s the best kicking scrum half in the Premiership.

These next couple of changes is not because I don’t like the players it’s because I think these players make England better. First, I’d drop James Haskell to the bench and bring Tom Wood back and it’s nothing against Haskell I just think Wood is a better tackler around the breakdown and offers more in the line out. 

Next is to drop Goode and bring Brown back in mainly because of his kick and chase is much better and how comfortable he is under the high ball and even though Goode did a suitable job it showed how far ahead the Harlequins fullback is of everyone else.

We’ve got another two weeks to wait till England host Scotland at Twickenham so we’ll see who makes a name for themselves in round 17 of the Aviva Premiership.

Will It Be The Luck Of The Irish Or Will We Be Carrying Them Home?

THE SIX NATIONS HAS RETURNED!! YAY!! After two rounds of hard hitting, exciting close matches the tournament took a week off for half term so players could return to their clubs to stake a claim to play this weekend and it seemed to have worked.

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