WE’VE REACHED THE penultimate weekend of this year’s Six Nations and it’s a trip to Twickenham for Ireland.
Ahead of the meeting with England, here are Ciaran Kennedy’s key talking points and the latest prices from William Hill…
Eddie’s right, Ireland are favourites
England head coach Eddie Jones got the build-up rolling nice and early this week when he declared Ireland as favourites ahead of Saturday’s Twickenham showdown in his Monday morning press conference, labelling Andy Farrell’s team as “the most cohesive side in the world”.
It was classic Jones, although this time, he may actually have a point. Despite their round two defeat in France, Ireland currently look in much healthier shape than England, making huge strides under Farrell over the last 12 months.
Having struggled against England for a number of years, they blew them out of the water when these teams last met – Ireland winning 32-18 in Dublin last year, their first victory against England since 2018.
Since then, Ireland have only improved, building their attacking gameplan while also solidifying their defensive set-up, while England are in more of a transitional period, negotiating their way through this tournament minus some key players.
Of course, winning in Twickenham is never easy, but Ireland will make the trip to London full of confidence. If things click for them this weekend, they could finally land the first big away win of the Farrell era.
William Hill odds: Ireland to win by 6-10 points @ 11/2
Searching for a fast start
In Ireland’s two wins in this championship to date, they made fast starts — Bundee Aki crossing after just two minutes on the opening day against Wales, while Joey Carbery dotted down just three minutes into the win over Wales last time out.
The fixture sandwiched in between those two games, where Ireland lost at the Stade de France, saw the opposite happen – Antoine Dupont putting France in the lead in the opening minute.
For many of Farrell’s squad – such as Hugo Keenan, Caelan Doris, Mack Hansen and Dan Sheehan – that France game represented their first taste of a big international away game with a full crowd in attendance. The group have spoken about the need to learn from that experience and make it count at a packed Twickenham.
What better way to silence the home crowd than by registering an early score? Ireland currently play with more tempo than England and will look to stretch them in this area on Saturday, just as they did in the opening minutes against Wales and Italy.
William Hill odds: Ireland to score the first try of the game @ 4/5
Plenty to play for
Sure, the Grand Slam may be gone, and the championship itself remains France’s to lose, but Ireland still have plenty to play for across their final two games. Beat England this weekend, and they will be odds on to win a Triple Crown when they host Scotland on the final day.
While Farrell’s squad are an ambitious group who set high targets for themselves, don’t underestimate what a Triple Crown would mean to the players. Ahead of the Italy game, captain Johnny Sexton was keen to point out that winning a Triple Crown this season “would be a great thing. You look into history and we have won 11 Triple Crowns, which is very few when you think about it over the last 100 years”.
For a team that were coming under heavy criticism this time last year, a Triple Crown would represent a solid stepping stone as the squad builds towards next year’s Rugby World Cup.
William Hill odds: Ireland to win the Triple Crown @ 11/10
William Hill odds above correct at the time of writing. New online customers get €30 in free bets when they bet €10 with William Hill. Just use the promo code H30. For all the latest prices, visit williamhill.com. 18+, always gamble responsibly. For more information, see gamblingtherapy.org
