THE LAST TIME Ireland beat England five times in a row was back in the 1970s.
Legendary players like Mike Gibson, Tom Kiernan, Willie John McBride, and Tom Grace drove that run of Irish successes against the English and they won the Five Nations outright in 1974, having shared the title with the other four teams in 1973.
’73 was when England travelled to Ireland despite the Troubles, which had dissuaded Wales and Scotland from coming the year before.
Ireland won 18-9 in front of 50,000 people at Lansdowne Road and England skipper John Pullin stood up at the post-match dinner and said, “We may not be much good but at least we turn up.”
You might suggest that Pullin’s words apply to the current England team too but Andy Farrell’s Ireland will be wary of genuine danger as they prepare for this Saturday’s Six Nations clash at Twickenham. Irish teams have only won 19 of their 70 games in England but there is an expectation this time around.
Farrell’s men are 11-point favourites as they look to make it five consecutive wins over the English.
The two most recent Six Nations meetings with England have been tricky, with red cards for English players featuring in both games. In 2022, Charlie Ewels’ early sending-off seemed to inspire the home team at Twickenham and Farrell’s men had to battle hard for an eventual 32-15 victory, a record winning margin for Ireland away to the English.
Last year, Freddie Steward’s red card before half time – which was later rescinded – was important after Ireland had looked shaky in the final game of their Grand Slam campaign.
That big prize is on offer again. Two wins separate Farrell’s side from being just the sixth team ever to secure back-to-back Grand Slams. The most recent one was France in 1997 and 1998.
Of course, it would be just a fifth-ever Grand Slam for Ireland, who still have plenty of ground to make up on England [13], Wales [12], and France [10] in that regard.
And having missed out on a bonus point against Scotland last year, Ireland could even become the first team to earn a perfect clean sweep of five bonus-point wins from five games since the introduction of bonus points in 2017. That would be a phenomenal achievement.
But that is all very much getting ahead of the task directly at hand. England aren’t the power they have been in the past, yet they will relish the role of underdogs on their home patch this weekend. Even if Owen Farrell is missing, the bulk of this England side were minutes away from reaching the World Cup final last year.
There are deficiencies in Steve Borthwick’s side but one suspects that if they kick well, have a strong set-piece outing, and deliver an aggressive defensive performance that is more accurate than in the opening three rounds, they will make life extremely uncomfortable for Ireland.
It seems certain that they will go all out to disrupt the Irish lineout, which was 100% in the opening two rounds under relatively little pressure from France and Italy but was shakier when Wales actually got into the air last time out.
Borthwick’s team selection will be telling and though there is clamour about their poor attack, the crowd at Twickers won’t care a jot if their team ekes out a 9-7 win on Saturday. The greatest need is to arrest Ireland’s recent run of success in this fixture.
Ireland have lots of in-form players but you suspect that Farrell would love to have total certainty over fullback Hugo Keenan, who missed the win over Wales two weekends ago with a knee injury.
It has been expected that Keenan will return against the English but he has to come through training this week to prove his fitness. His world-class ability in all aspects of the game has been pivotal to Ireland’s success under Farrell and given that England will surely rely on their kicking game, Keenan’s assured presence would be valuable.
If Keenan misses out, Ciarán Frawley would have the chance to build on his strong first start for Ireland against the Welsh. That would obviously be a valuable experience and Farrell always welcomes the challenges caused by injuries, but a return for Keenan would still be welcome.
The last time Ireland won on two consecutive visits to Twickenham was in 2004 and 2006.
It was Girvan Dempsey’s try that proved to be the most memorable moment in 2004, while Shane Horgan was the two-try inspiration in 2006. Ireland clinched the Triple Crown in both of those years.
Those wins in 2004 and 2006 were part of Ireland’s last four-game winning streak against the English. When Ireland went to Twickenham in 2008 aiming to make it five, they suffered a resounding 33-10 defeat.
Now Farrell’s side, driven by the likes of Caelan Doris and Jamison Gibson-Park, look to make their own history in Twickenham. They have a bigger prize in sight but they’ll be ready for an onslaught from the English.
