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
Lara
Guest
You’re scaring me.....neither.
The Neutral View From Sweden
Roar Guru
Felt the same way, Harry. And I think I know why you warm towards England. They played - at the bone - proper classic Bokke rugby. And when it clicks combined with the right players it is almost impossible to beat.
The Neutral View From Sweden
Roar Guru
A bit harsh expecting CJ Stander to manhandle three big big PI boys? Four even when Hughes stepped in.
ThugbyFan
Roar Guru
Doesn't matter for the WB. Our "coach of the Millenium" is going the "Aussie way", having declared that only sissies kick. :) btw; is it Brian Lara or Lara Croft?
ThugbyFan
Roar Guru
Some YUGeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee hits and very clever kicks behind the rush defence unravelled the Irish. At the end of the day, England's Pacific Islanders beat up Ireland's Seff Africans. :)
taylorman
Roar Guru
Its cut down thats why, makes it a leveller. Last time it heavily suited oz with home games vs both SA and NZ.
Pavid Docock
Guest
England suffocated Ireland. I really hope Michael Cheika and his coaching staff (whoever they may ultimately be) take note of this performance. There is a lot to admire about the way the English played. They strangled Ireland with line speed and made most of the hits in defence count with a high number of dominant tackles. Their kick chase was for the most part committed - deputising full back Robbie Henshaw was often propelled backwards at a rate of knots anytime he fielded a high ball. This is where they won the game, with a foundation of offensive defence, every player from 1-15 committed to the cause. This, combined with some excellent ball handling skills close to contact between forwards and backs executed with decent accuracy, plus a solid set piece, really destabilised an excellent Irish team. I believe that this style of play highlights some of the more glaring deficiencies that Cheika's Wallabies have in their overall game plan. Each player should take responsibility within a side's defensive alignment. However Cheika accepts that some players are bigger than the team and should be hidden in defence. This in turn creates greater responsibility for others defensively. I feel that the reason the Wallaby back row necessitates a faster Hooper type player in a dual openside role is because of the hiding of players in defence - Foley, Beale and Folau etc. It was good to see England using a more traditional back row to such good effect. Cheika and his cronies should take note...
Ed
Guest
I don't know about the correlation with 6N and the RWC that year but the winner of the 3N/RC in a RWC year has never made the final. It almost appears to be a Clayton's title in a RWC year.
Lara
Guest
The little grubbed kick cause a few headaches for Ireland n that in turn cause issues for the rush defence but the kick an chase also caused problems for both teams during the game.
Bobby
Roar Rookie
A few good bounces, a few good kicks, a few good passes and the Rugby God's can smile upon you
mzilikazi
Roar Pro
Fionn, I thought at half time he should have seen that Connor Murrays kicking game was not working, and had him pass more, run himself from time to time. Also should have moved to more short passes, and a lot of second man plays and switches, to give the very good ball carrying Irish forwards more chance to find the seams, use their footwork etc. Made a huge mistake with Henshaw at fb...he was exposed by England....needed a specialist there....maybe Larmour starting ? I would also fault him for not bringing on subs earlier.....the guys who came on late made a difference...Cooney, Sean Cronin.
riddler
Roar Rookie
am too pissed to make sense, but will have a whirl. great game. loved it. great weekend of rugby. and have healy, hogg,north and slade in my telegraph fantasy team. happy days. never been a worshiper of sexton like so many. today was a classic example of him struggling even with a pack that had parity for large parts. disappeared and got stroppy. am subbing him out for farrell, for some reason i felt i should follow the crowd with the sexton hype. credit to eddie for outsmarting joe. what a 6 nations we have now. england were 3 to 1 and ireland 1 to 3. one of my mates picked up 210 on a bet of ten for points diff, if the irish didnt get last try he was on for 360. nathan hughes coming on in the 2nd row with joe.l on the bench? i was going off, but once again i was proved wrong. fair dues eddie. slade with an amazing 3rd slip diving catch for an intercept, even the irish in the pub applauded that one. love my rugby!!
Oblonsky‘s Other Pun
Roar Guru
Somehow, I doubt Australia can turn itself around that quickly.
Oblonsky‘s Other Pun
Roar Guru
What do you think Schmidt did wrong, mate?
FunBus
Roar Rookie
Shows how quickly things can change around, though Bobby, seeing how rubbish England were last year.
taylorman
Roar Guru
What part of englend rolled over ireland is underestimating the physicality? England werent pretty, made heaps of errors in handling, they were just dominant in the tackles and on the directness with the ball, forced the mistakes that came from that. Ireland couldnt handle the pressure and are suddenly needing a rethink. Ireland thought what has succeeded to date would work again. Schmidt has work to do if his players arent going to dominate, and none did, bar possibly Furlong and Healy. Their apparent loosie depth was outplayed, sexton and murray were benign.
FunBus
Roar Rookie
You’re underestimating the physicality. England’s defence were putting some very, very big hits in with huge line-speed. At the top level, as the ABs well know, pretty patterns get swamped by pure physicality. It’s the sort of game I love. The highest physical pressure you can imagine, so the moments of skill are worth their weight in gold as they have to be executed in an environment of manic physicality. Of course, there’s always ‘7’s for those who judge the quality of a game on the number of tries.
Harry Jones
Expert
Lovely match, really. Found myself admiring England’s opportunism and fight. England: - big ball carriers ↗️ - Curry at 7 ↗️↗️↗️ - punishing D ↗️↗️ - kick chase ↗️↗️ - line speed ↗️↗️ Ireland: - looking predictable - need plan 3.0 - a bit slow ? - Sexton hurt?
taylorman
Roar Guru
Too many errors, too little enterprise. Too many lacklustre Irish performances. England won through pressure and the Island boys returning to provide more direct running but overall, skill levels were average, regardless of the hype. Farrells pass the one genuine moment and I guess Healys effort on the line. Other than that, few genuine moments of skill. England just rolled over Ireland. Perhaps a rusty start and England will get better, Ireland have to.
mzilikazi
Roar Pro
Well done England...a very good victory, and well deserved. Some very smart play...Farrell especially led very well. Ireland....found out, Schmodt....owes the players a big apology for poor handling of the game....especially at/post half time. Leaders in the backs, esp. Murray had poor games.....Murray should have been subbed off by 60 min mark.