On Saturday Twickenham Stadium
will emerge from its 98 day International hibernation and host one of the
greatest contests that this 2014 6 Nations will see as England and Ireland go
head to head for the 128th time. Given the context of the
championship and the level of talent housed within the two squads expect
nothing less than an almighty humdinger of a rugby test match. The question on everyone’s lips is who will
win!? Well for once I’m not going to launch into an clear cut prediction
because this time around I actually believe that it is very, very difficult to
call. One moment I’m with England and their home advantage and steadily
building game and then the next I’m with Ireland… remembering the way in which
they clinically brushed aside the heftiest of opponents in Round 2 and made it
look very easy! Why are you so indecisive I hear you ask… surely as a writer you should always have a strong opinion and on top of that as an England fan your answer should be simple… an England win and that’s that! Well as much as I’d like to sit and type that in a carefree fashion I genuinely think that it would be foolish of me to do so. Stuart Lancaster has described the game as ‘a formidable challenge’ and he is absolutely spot on with that assessment. The challenge for his men became even more formidable when it was announced that Dan Cole would not be able to play any part in the match. Dan’s injury is a huge blow to the squad, England’s reliance on him has been hefty so far this year and now it is time for others to take to the helm. Let’s not forget that last year’s result was greatly assisted by penalties awarded at scrum time and whilst Henry Thomas and David Wilson are strong players fronting up against Cian Healy is a huge, huge challenge and my goodness me do I hope that they do it well.
There is one member of the Irish team that all eyes will be on come 4pm on Saturday afternoon… I am of course talking about Mr Brian O’Driscoll who will be achieving his 139th International Cap. It will be his 13th and final game against England and whilst Joe Schmidt is keen to move the spotlight away from just one individual, you know that the fact that it is BOD’s last hoorah at HQ will add a huge amount of spark to the whole team. Luther Burrell has already said that it will be a ‘huge honour’ to run out against him however don’t be fooled by the niceties… an honour it may be but Luther has also said as soon as soon as it is game time they ‘will become enemies’ meaning that he tackle with just as much ferocity as always should the legend happen run into his channel.
BOD is an integral part of one of
the most experienced back lines in world rugby… Conor Murray, Jonny Sexton and Gordon D’Arcy add their own talents to it. However Ireland's firepower comes from all over the park... in fact I don't need to do anything more than write a couple of names for you to know exactly what I mean by that; Paul O’Connell, Cian Healy, Rory Best, Peter O’Mahony, the Kearney brothers...and more.... needless to say you get the idea!!
However let’s not forget that England have their own weapons… yes many are much less experienced than their Irish counterparts but they still have the ability to deliver outstanding performances that can win their team matches. One thing is for certain and that is that every single England player will take their game to a different level this weekend, beyond anything that we have seen so far in the RBS 6 Nations. Brown and Care will be at their electric bests, Joe Launchbury, Chris Robshaw and Tom Wood will work themselves into the ground and Billy Vunipola will look to crash through that gain line time and time again. An added bit of excitement is the fact that this weekend England have comprehensive cover and indeed a strong second half option at 10 with George Ford.
However let’s not forget that England have their own weapons… yes many are much less experienced than their Irish counterparts but they still have the ability to deliver outstanding performances that can win their team matches. One thing is for certain and that is that every single England player will take their game to a different level this weekend, beyond anything that we have seen so far in the RBS 6 Nations. Brown and Care will be at their electric bests, Joe Launchbury, Chris Robshaw and Tom Wood will work themselves into the ground and Billy Vunipola will look to crash through that gain line time and time again. An added bit of excitement is the fact that this weekend England have comprehensive cover and indeed a strong second half option at 10 with George Ford.
As previously mentioned I’m not going to provide a definitive match prediction, instead I am simply going to finish by stating again how close I believe it will be. I am hugely honoured to be able to say that I will be in the press box at Twickenham this
weekend to witness, in full, what will undoubtedly be one of the most memorable test
matches that this great stadium has ever seen.
