Ireland’s recovery from the disappointment of Rugby World Cup failure will continue at the weekend with two records firmly in the sights of Andy Farrell’s team.
While the hosts of the World Cup, France, have struggled to put their narrow defeat to South Africa in the Paris quarterfinal last October behind them, and find themselves trailing on the Guinness Six Nations log after a campaign that includes just one rather fortunate win against Scotland, Ireland have continued to fly just like they did in the buildup to the global tournament.
When they lost to the All Blacks in their quarterfinal, it meant Ireland fell just short of breaking the record for consecutive international victories, which continues to stand at 18. It also meant they did not break through the barrier of progressing to the semifinal for the first time.
But there are still records for them to break - they are two matches away from becoming the first team to complete back to back Grand Slams since what used to be the Five Nations morphed into the Six Nations. And more immediately, on Saturday they will be bidding to complete five consecutive victories against England. That is something they have not done since the 1970s, when England were one of the few teams prepared to visit Ireland during the political violence in Northern Ireland that marked the early part of that decade in particular.
AT LEAST ENGLAND TURNED UP…
John Pullin, the hooker who led England against the odds to what at the time was recognised as a seismic win over the Springboks in Johannesburg in 1972, was the England captain back then, and he produced a quote about England’s efforts in Ireland during that period that has stood the test of time - “…we’re not much good, but at least we turned up”.
To be fair, such a statement would not be out of place from the leader of the current England team, Jamie George. Although they progressed further than Ireland and for that matter France did at the World Cup, England’s passage to the semifinal, where they were unlucky to lose to the Boks, was based on their ridiculously favourable draw. While Ireland and France had to contend with teams in the top four of the World Rugby rankings in their quarterfinals, England only played teams at the World Cup that were near or beneath them in the rankings.
They’ve won twice and lost once in this Six Nations, but neither of their two wins over Italy and a Wales team at the start of a rebuilding phase was convincing. When they travelled to Murrayfield to play Scotland it was considered their big test, but although they led 10-0 at one point, they flattered only to deceive.
LOW EXPECTATIONS
England’s fortunes have plummeted to the extent that a record from the Six Nations of three wins in five starts will be seen as mission successful. It would mean an improvement on the past two editions of the competition, where they’ve won just two games, and against the same opponents they succeeded against this year.
As the game is at Twickenham, you’d imagine England might consider themselves to have a chance, but England haven’t been as successful as the Vodacom Bulls have been in establishing their home ground as a fortress. They were smashed by France their last year, and as Ireland recently gave the French a good thumping, and on French soil to boot, there’s not too much hope coming from the supporters of the white jerseys or for that matter the English media.
Ireland’s 32-15 win the last time they travelled to London in 2022 was seen as almost a setback by Ireland as they were given a fright along the way by a team that lost lock Charlie Ewels to a red card. Ellis Genge managed to be at the heart of five scrum penalties for England, and for a while, as the Irish forwards coach John Fogarty told the Irish media, it was quite chaotic for a period before the visitors regrouped to wrap up the win.
IRELAND SUFFERED TWO DECADES AGO
The expectation of Irish success is certainly a far cry from how Fogarty remembers a period when he was a supporter between 1997 and 2003, when England put scores of 46, 50, 45 and 42 on Ireland teams he considered to be too overly emotional.
The Irish approach has changed since those days, they have a clinical edge to them, as seen in their three comfortable wins so far that all netted a full house haul of five log points and puts them comfortably six points clear of the next team, Scotland. A Six Nations title already seems almost assured, it is the Grand Slam, meaning five wins in five starts, that the Irish are chasing.
Fogarty hinted that Ireland will be motivated against England to prove that the English were lucky to advance further than them at the World Cup.
“They are potentially thinking ‘We should have been in a final of a World Cup and Ireland were out at the quarterfinal stage’”, said Fogarty.
But Ireland will go to Twickenham with respect for how difficult it still can be to win there if you don’t nullify the crowd by making a strong start.
“I have watched a lot of Ireland teams struggle and we struggled massively at times on our last two visits because it is a tough place to go and play… A fast start is always good in nullifying an away crowd, so we will be looking for that.”
England are set to announce a team that for the first time in their campaign will feature Marcus Smith, the attacking flyhalf who has been the centre of much debate in the English media but who was injured in a pre-tournament training camp in Spain, thus forcing him to miss the opening three games.
Weekend Guinness Six Nations fixtures
Italy v Scotland (Rome, Saturday 16.15)
England v Ireland (London, Saturday 18.45)
Wales v France (Cardiff, Sunday 17.00)