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LONG READ 'This Ireland-England fixture is back with a tingling, resonant feel'

'This Ireland-England fixture is back with a tingling, resonant feel'
2 weeks ago

There have been a few blockbusting Ireland-England fixtures down the years: Carpetgate in 2003 with a Grand Slam on the line and Martin Johnson’s boys rooted to their end of the ceremonial mat; the Croke Park anthem of silence in 2007 when history was respected in spine-tingling fashion, followed by an Irish demolition job; Johnno as manager smashing his fist in frustration as England fiddled and fretted, Eddie Jones getting swamped by an emerald tide in 2017 as England were bidding for a record 19th successive Test victory.

There are stories aplenty from whichever generation you fancy, in Dublin or Twickenham, be it Mick Galwey’s from-the-depths-of-his-being try in 1993, Simon Geoghegan’s blond locks flowing to the try-line the following year or Keith Wood’s Grand Slam-denying effort in the foot-and-mouth-delayed fixture in 2001. On and on we can go, tales made ever taller with the telling.

Keith Wood
Ireland upset England’s Grand Slam bid in 2001 via Keith Wood’s winning try but it was a different story two years later (Photo Odd Anderson/AFP via Getty Images)

The Marcus Smith drop-goal that settled a Twickenham thriller last year fits nicely into that narrative, a welcome uptick for England followers given their underwhelming performances in the Six Nations in recent years, having finished no higher than third since their last title in 2020.

You might argue that it’s easy to be upbeat and optimistic at this point in the calendar with the starting whistle in Paris on Friday night yet to sound to signal the 25th edition of the Six Nations championship starting. A blank sheet contains no lies, only possibilities.

It seems ludicrous for a team ranked second in the world that they should have so much to prove. But they do.

What is not in dispute, however, is the fact that this Ireland-England fixture is back with a tingling, resonant feel to it. No matter whose colours you’ll be sporting that can only be good news.

In many ways, the game is not only of high-octane significance in itself but you can argue that as a pointer to fortunes in the 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia, it is hugely important. Are Ireland hanging on too long to their ageing warriors, several of whom will do well to be fit and firing at the highest level in two and a half years’ time?

Marcus Smith
Marcus Smith’s winning drop-goal at Twickenham last year denied Ireland a second straight Grand Slam (Photo Julian Finney/Getty Images)

It’s a critique that has been levelled at them before and they have dealt with it in their usual way by going out and getting the job done (the 2023 World Cup quarter-final trauma notwithstanding).

Saturday sees another exam paper put in front of them. It seems ludicrous for a team ranked second in the world that they should have so much to prove. But they do. There is a lot on the line at the Aviva, a need to declare themselves once again in the moment itself – and quite rightly they start as very warm favourites – but also for the long-term.

Can this generation, with its clutch of 30-somethings in the backline in particular – Jamison Gibson-Park, Bundee Aki, Robbie Henshaw, James Lowe and the like – make it to the Oz finishing line? When is the right time for transition to kick in?

Bundee Aki
Will Ireland duo Bundee Aki and Jamison Gibson-Park make it to the next RWC in Australia? (Photo Romain Perrocheau/AFP via Getty Images)

England have decided to get to grips with that little poser – the Man City conundrum in the round-ball code. When (and why) do you need to change? For the sake of age or for its own sake, to freshen and re-shape?

Steve Borthwick does not give the impression of a high-roller making for the roulette tables but even he admits that his team selection for Saturday has an element of risk to it. A back row of fliers in the Curry twins and Ben Earl, high on pace, short in stature when it comes to rear-jumping in the lineout.

The England head coach has acknowledged a truism of elite sport – that you can’t fast-track experience.

A debutant on the wing, Harlequins’ Cadan Murley, and a 6-2 split on the bench only add to the feeling that these days Borthwick has a touch of the Kenny Rogers in his make-up, his trademark ‘The Gambler’ being the team song of the 2007 World Cup squad of which the lock-forward was a part – ‘know when to hold em, know when to fold em’.

The England head coach has acknowledged a truism of elite sport – that you can’t fast-track experience. It is what it is, as the arch-pragmatist Martin Johnson used to say. Borthwick is undergoing something of a transformation, shedding the dull-as-ditchwater England that plodded through the 2023 World Cup welded to the notion that rugby was a sport of no frills and no risks. It almost got them across the line, to be fair, yet, crucially, it didn’t. Nor did their more liberated approach last year, losing matches again and again even though they were within touching distance.

Borthwick needs to find out more in the quest to make England winners rather than worthy losers. This selection, this back-row arrangement, is a step along that high-wire act. It is also a very clear attempt to attack Ireland where they have traditionally been so productive – at the breakdown.

Tom and Ben Curry
Twin brothers Tom (middle) and Ben Curry (right) will start together for England for the first time in Dublin (Photo Michael Steele/Getty Images)

If England can disrupt Ireland’s phase play, then they are in the ball game. If they can force Ireland to adopt a kicking strategy instead, with Leicester’s Freddie Steward at the rear to deal with such an aerial bombardment and speedster Murley ready to counter-attack off any loose kicks, then Borthwick’s tactical ploy will have worked.

There is a flip side, of course, and in such jeopardy rests the reason that millions will be tuning in on Saturday afternoon, and that is that England will be exposed at the lineout and even in the close-quarter ball-carries, lacking the pounding presence that a Caelan Doris and his back-row mates bring to the party, albeit they are missing the churning upfield blasts of Tadhg Furlong.

Furlong is another of the ageing ones. The Dad’s Army jibe, of course, used to be thrown at England many moons ago and they didn’t fare too badly on their route to glory in Sydney. The All Blacks, too, gave their own two-fingered response to such blinkered thinking when lifting the Webb Ellis pot in 2015.

Let’s not forget the best possible preparation for any event is to win the next match. Theories and strategies and nurturing projects are all very well. But all that really matters is winning games of rugby.

Even so, should Ireland fall at the first, and miss out on their attempt for an historic three-peat of titles, then their whole 2027 World Cup strategy gets called into question.

Clive Woodward told his team that they could forget about their World Cup aspirations if they failed once again to land a Grand Slam when they set out for Dublin in 2003. They duly delivered.

That’s the nature of the business. The World Cup in Australia is a long way off. And let’s not forget the best possible preparation for any event is to win the next match. Theories and strategies and nurturing projects are all very well. But all that really matters is winning games of rugby. Ireland, to this point, are proven masters of that (yes, RWC 2023 excepting). England are not in that league. Nowhere near. At present, anyway. We shall know a hell of a lot more about both teams by Saturday evening.

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