Ireland gets their title defense underway with a clash against the old enemy with England headed to Dublin in Round 1’s final fixture. There’s a bit of extra motivation for the Irish here as Steve Borthwick’s men ruined their chances of a Grand Slam last term.
Ireland v England | Saturday 1 February | Aviva Stadium
To Win (80 Mins)
Ireland | Draw | England
Handicap
Ireland | England
Nick Easterby will step up to the big time this weekend with the Irish interim head coach taking over duties from Andy Farell, who is preparing for the British and Irish Lions tour of Australia. The former Irish international gets thrown straight into the cauldron here with England coming to town for yet another installment of what is a fierce rivalry between the sides.
As noted in the introduction, England got in the way of Ireland’s Grand Slam ambitions last term as the ‘Red Roses’ managed a 23-22 victory at Twickenham. While the Irish get up for any game against their old foes, you can bet your bottom dollar that the aforementioned defeat will spur them on even more this Saturday.
Easterby has a few injury issues to contend with for the opener with veteran prop Tadgh Furlong still out for a couple more weeks due to a calf strain he picked up at the close of last year while find of last season Sam Predergast has been seen wearing a leg heavy strapping on his left leg. If the young fly-half is nursing an injury then it’s expected that fellow young gun Jack Crowley will crack the nod at fly-half.
While Easterby has delayed his team selection, his opposite number Steve Borthwick has fired off his matchday 23 earlier than usual. The former England international has made some interesting selections for his side’s opener with brothers Tom and Ben Curry starting alongside each other in the back row for the first time while Cadan Murley is handed his debut on the wing and Luke Cowan-Dickie getting the nod at hooker with Jamie George out injured.
Verdict: Ireland (-)
I like that Borthwick has been bold with his selections but I can see England struggling against a very well-structured Ireland side. My money is on the hosts winning comfortably on home soil.
