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Six Nations’ favourites Ireland have fallen to England by 12 points in Dublin during Round 1, with the result likely to have implications for the tournament standings moving forward.
Ireland 20
England 32
‘Rugby’s Greatest Championship’ returns this February, and round one wraps up with arguably Europe’s biggest rivalry, as Ireland and England go head-to-head. Join The Roar for live scores and the blog from 3:45am AEDT.
It’s been pointed out that the Six Nations is historically a pretty poor indicator of teams’ World Cup form, but the World Cup will be the last thing on the minds of these six teams as they strive to take the Northern Hemisphere bragging rights for another year.
The Irish are, of course, favourites. 2018 saw them win the grand slam (beating all five other countries), win an away series in June vs Australia and defeat New Zealand, losing only one of 12 matches – against the Wallabies in Brisbane.
2018 for the English on the other hand after a shock loss to Scotland began their downward plummet had them falling to fifth in the Six Nations, losing in the annual Barbarians match, unsuccessfully touring South Africa, and being given a scare by the Springboks and Japanese at home.
Three years after Eddie Jones was told ‘name your price’ by the RFU, calls for him to be sacked were already ringing loud and strong, so if he wants to keep his position post-World Cup, he needs results.
In team news: Manu Tuilagi will start for England, for the first time in more than four years, coming in for Ben Te’o, who has a side strain.
Perhaps surprisingly, Elliot Daly once again plays fullback, at the expense of Mike Brown who doesn’t make the 23.
For Ireland, Conor Murray returns after missing the November Internationals with a neck injury, while Robbie Henshaw will don the No.15 jersey, as November standout Jordan Larmour – who found the spotlight with a hat-trick against Italy in one of his first appearances – makes it onto the bench at 23.
England are the underdogs, but rule them out at your own tipping’s expense, they’ll need to lift in the World Cup year.
Prediction
England to win by 8.
Time: 3:45am AEDT.
Venue: Aviva Stadium.
Odds: Ireland $1.29, England $3.62.
Referee: Jerome Garces.
Ireland
1. Cian Healy
2. Rory Best
3. Tadhg Furlong
4. Devin Toner
5. James Ryan
6. Peter O’Mahony
7. Josh van der Flier
8. CJ Stander
9. Conor Murray
10. Johnny Sexton
11. Jacob Stockdale
12. Bundee Aki
13. Garry Ringrose
14. Keith Earls
15. Robbie Henshaw
Reserves
16. Sean Cronin
17. Dave Kilcoyne
18. Andrew Porter
19. Quinn Roux
20. Sean O’Brien
21. John Cooney
22. Joey Carbery
23. Jordan Larmour
England
1. Mako Vunipola
2. Jamie George
3. Kyle Sinckler
4. Maro Itoje
5. George Kruis
6. Mark Wilson
7. Tom Curry
8. Billy Vunipola
9. Ben Youngs
10. Owen Farrell
11. Jack Nowell
12. Manu Tuilagi
13. Henry Slade
14. Jonny May
15. Elliot Daly
Reserves
16. Luke Cowan-Dickie
17. Ellis Genge
18. Harry Williams
19. Courtney Lawes
20. Nathan Hughes
21. Dan Robson
22. George Ford
23. Chris Ashton
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