England are looking to win their 19th match in a row – a world record – when they face Ireland at the Aviva stadium, on Saturday, March 18th at 5pm.
England share the current world record (18 victories) with New Zealand. Ironically, it was Ireland who ended New Zealand’s record, back in November fifth, 2016, in what was Ireland’s first win against New Zealand ever.
A win would also give England their second, consecutive Grand Slam. They have already won the Six Nations championship, after beating Scotland, 61-21. The win left them with 18 points on the table, far more than their nearest rivals, Ireland (10).
It was the second time in a row that England were awarded the trophy, with one match to spare, having done so in 2016.
It was an amazing performance by England. They were facing a resurgent Scotland, who were themselves looking to win their first Triple Crown since 1990.
It was not to be as England ran riot, scoring seven tries in all, including a hat-trick for centre Jonathan Joseph and a brace for replacement scrum-half, Danny Care.
It was a nightmare game for Scotland, who were down to 14 men after two minutes, when their hooker, Brown, was sent to the sin bin for a dangerous tackle.
They also lost four players to injury, including Stuart Hogg, who has consistently been one of their best players in the last few years. Scotland conceded 20 points in the first quarter of the match and never managed to get a grip on the game.
The 61-21 scoreline was the biggest winning margin in the fixture, which dates back to 1871 and is the oldest rugby Test fixture in the world. It was also the greatest number of points England have scored against Scotland.
It was the also the second highest number of points that England have scored against another of rugby’s giants, having beaten Wales, 62-5 in 2007.
Ireland were hoping to also be going for the Grand Slam but this year’s tournament has been one of disappointment, with losses to both Scotland and Wales.
Ireland were beaten by Scotland in the opening fixture and lost to Wales last Friday, by 22-9. Wales scored three tries in all, including two for their giant wing George North. It was North’s best game for his country in a long time.
Ireland weren’t helped by the absence of their talismanic half-backs. Jonny Sexton was sin-binned in the first few minutes of the game, for committing a professional foul and Conor Murray went off injured after suffering an arm injury.
Murray’s replacement, Kieran Marmiom, played very well when he came on, his snap pass really opens up the opposition defence but he didn’t have the same effect that Murray has had.
The two half-backs are pivotal to Ireland’s chances of victory against England. Some pundits have talked of Ireland getting predictable and complacent (former coach Eddie O’Sullivan certainly thinks so) and there has been talk of Joe Schmidt changing the team.
Rob Kearney played well against Wales but someone like Jared Payne would be an unknown threat. Likewise, Jamie Heaslip has been a great player for Ireland over the years but the other countries are wise to his style of play.
A suggestion was bringing in CJ Stander at no.8, with Sean O’Brien and Peter O’Mahony on the flanks. That would certainly be a more dynamic back row. Not to say Heaslip won’t play well if selected.
Another intriguing aspect of the game concerns the Farrell family, with out-half Owen Farrell being a pivotal member of the English team and his dad, Andy, is Ireland’s defence coach! It’s the first time the two have been on opposing sides in the championship, since Andy Farrell took on the job.
As it stands, England go into the match as favourites. Ireland will need to pull out their best performance since beating New Zealand if they are to have any chance of winning.
kevin
Guest
well, ireland beat england. will some bright ROAR correspondent please explain this success to me. england beat wales. routed scotland. ireland lost to scotland and wales. yet ireland beat england. please explain to me how this happened. is the irish team a better team than the english? or is it that they were just better on the day? If so, why were they better on the day? how could the team that so disposed of scotland lose to ireland?
Old Bugger
Guest
And, may the luck of the Blarney stone, shine upon the Emerald Isles........heehee!!
lexhamfox
Guest
It's the NH match up we have all been waiting for in the tournament. I expect both teams to turn up and provide us with a tense test match. I am hoping England make more history tomorrow but have no illusions about how tough Ireland are at home.
lexhamfox
Guest
Well have a look at the All Black record and I think you will find Namibia and Georgia but no England.
taylorman
Roar Guru
Possibly but its a great motivator having the fringe players as temporary caretakers of the record while mum and dad are out shopping. Plus for some reason Argie dont seem to do well against touring NH sides. Those matches throw up some odd results.
kevin
Guest
what a treat in store tomorrow. last day of 6 Nations 2017. it has been a fabulous tournament. difficult to see england not doing the business in lansdowne road. italy are often good for one scalp. i hope so.
adastra32
Guest
No yelling required. "To lose one international Test match against England may be considered a misfortune; to lose four sounds like....?". Whatever the excuses, Eng beat you up four times in succession. That is no accident or good fortune on their part. And no norovirus was involved anywhere.... :-). If they played next week (to misquote EJ's latest quip), they'd almost certainly beat the WBs again because the direction and speed of travel of the two teams is markedly different.
PeterK
Roar Guru
nz has 2 games in the rwc against minnows in it's pool games included so they are 1 behind england if you look at it like that
lexhamfox
Guest
Even now England Are missing two first choice players in Robshaw and Kruis.
lexhamfox
Guest
I think England will be fine touring Argentina with the leftovers.
WesternWarrior
Roar Rookie
If they do get passed Ireland which is a big if at the moment, can't see England racking up a huge win streak. Think the tour to Argentina at the end of the season with so many member missing due to lions duty will really test their depth.
Perthstayer
Roar Rookie
Declan - great article. I said before 6N began that team successful teams will be ones that manage yellow cards and mid game injuries well. Requires decent bench and mid game plans B and C. Murray, Sexton and Hogg are such great players that it is impossible to sustain the same levels when they go off. That should be realised and the same game plan can often not be continued with a weaker link. Injuries to the opposition have favoured England, but it has balanced out given they have had their fair share as well as yellow cards. Ireland have to avoid getting too liked Fraser Brown did pre-game. Controlled aggression will be their best friend.
Perthstayer
Roar Rookie
RT - Hatred of England goes back way longer than a dislike of Collingwood. Dislike of England predates any other sporting rivalry across the globe. Dates back to empire, upper class launching most sports over there (which meant everywhere back in the day). Despite private schools and lords and ladies being minority participants nowadays it suits the narrative to persist with the theory.
taylorman
Guest
As far as I know its for tier 1 nations (6N and 4N) over ALL countries. The other record of 24 I think it is is non tier 1 over ALL countries and its possible because at a certain level those countries dont play either tier 1 or 'just outside' tier 1- Fiji, japan, Tonga etc Makes sense. That way you simply count them all.
mzilikazi
Roar Pro
Certainly would be worth looking at the quality and placings on the ladder of the respective opponents. I would agree with you. Imagine you will get "yelled at" by some for even raising this question. And I will get yelled at for saying that England were not a good enough team to deserve to beat Australia four times in the run. But they did.......combination of very good fortune, poor refereeing, and totally idiotic plays by Australia. I feel England have had only one really world class performance in the run....against Scotland last week.
Ross
Guest
Do England really have a share of NZ's record now? I think the Ireland match is key to equaling the NZ record. The record is for wins for tier 1 nations. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winning_streak_(sports)#Rugby_union The 1st game in the current streak of 18 wins was against Uruguay, who are not a tier 1 nation. Other agree/disagree?
taylorman
Guest
and as it doesnt include England. Pointless having it there. Theyll get this and the key here is how far they'll push this out to. If NZ are the only side that can or will beat them and they dont play until end of 2018 the potential is scary..28? 35? That might be large enough for Eddie to sit on for the rest of his days, and more...what a grand retirement that will be, watching your record outlast you...cooooool :-)
adastra32
Guest
Well, never let it be said that we're not all rooting for good game whomever is playing....;-) - I look forward to your (extremely grudging) appreciation IF England manage it.
Digby
Roar Guru
Thanks Declan. Should be a great game, looking forward to it!
adastra32
Guest
...hope?