Time to put a halt to the chariot's roll

RUGBY/England v Ireland:EVERY MATCH in the RBS Six Nations is defining in its own way and even an England v Ireland rendezvous in tiddlywinks would have a certain frisson to it – hence tickets are like gold dust for this 82,000-plus sell-out. Nevertheless, for both teams, it's hard not to believe this pivotal instalment will now go some considerable way toward determining the success or otherwise of their 2010 campaign.

An England win would send the chariot on to Edinburgh and Paris seeking a Slam. For Ireland, a victory would steady the ship after their Parisian traumas, and retain their interest in the title and the Triple Crown. By contrast, two defeats in a row would most likely leave them with only consolatory wins to aim for.

That’s a thought that should concentrate Irish minds, although the performance last time out would have been enough to do that. Quite simply if Ireland commit as many errors, lose the collisions, defend as poorly and run the ball in the same one-dimensional manner, they will lose again. Though Ireland have won five of the last six meetings, under Martin Johnson England are unbeaten in the Six Nations at home, the chariot having rolled over France, Scotland, Italy and Wales already.

For all the flak coming their way, this is a formidable, more settled and less injury-affected England team, with a good lineout, a strong scrum (if not as destructive as the French) a very big backrow, a quick scrumhalf, an outhalf who may be well past his best though still capable of rousing the Twickenham faithful with his goal-kicking if little else, a decent midfield pairing and dangerous runners in the back three.

They haven’t quite clicked yet and they’ve been constrained by a fairly negative game, but if they decide to play more expansively – and there have been hints of this – they could be quite dangerous.

As they discovered in Paris, last season’s Slam also makes Ireland a more prized scalp. A relaxed Johnson denied this was an added incentive, but it clearly is. “It is a good game to be involved in and it comes at a good time for us, Ireland at home after two wins. It will be a full house at Twickenham and the Grand Slam champions coming in and we have a chance to try to beat them.”

The presence of a Southern Hemisphere referee, even though it’s the respected Mark Lawrence, has prompted a degree of apprehension in both camps, given the basketball scorelines in the opening two weeks of the Super 14, amid a much harsher, different ruling against the tackler contesting the ball.

Last Saturday, Lawrence oversaw the Bulls’ 50-32 win over the Brumbies in Loftus Versfeld, during which Brumbies’ players could be heard repeatedly questioning the referee’s calls.

Ireland have to improve in all manner of areas, and Declan Kidney highlighted their communication on the pitch.

“That’s something that is within our control, and if we can do that then we feel a lot of the little things will come together. When you use the word little they can be hugely costly, and if you add up a number of little things that’s what cost us the last day.”

Aside from reducing the error count, as importantly is upping their intensity in the collisions and at the breakdown – which presumably is why Donncha O’Callaghan has been restored to his Munster and Lions partnership with Paul O’Connell for the 35th time in Irish colours.

Jonathan Sexton is only the third player to wear the number 10 jersey for Ireland in the Six Nations (Wilkinson is England’s seventh and François Trinh-Duc France’s 12th) and on the face of it this is a daunting task. But he’s no kid any more, has earned his stripes harder than most and his temperament has shone through impressively in the last year.

His own running threat (coupled with the aforementioned variety to their running game) ought to prevent England just rushing up and out on to the Ireland midfield ala the French.

In both England outings to date (and as at Croke Park last year) England came firing out of the traps, with Wilkinson fairly flat to the gain line and putting plenty of width on the ball. Gradually though, he retreated more and more behind the gain line, and spent as much time as an auxiliary fullback as first receiver. In their two games to date, Wilkinson has passed the ball the grand total of 18 times.

Wilkinson carried for four metres against Italy, whereas Trinh-Duc carried for 83 metres against Ireland. Nevertheless England will provide other, albeit more patterned threats than the French. Their pick-and-go has worked well and they’ll launch the likes of Simon Shaw, Steve Borthwick and James Haskell before going to their strike runners.

This game has arguably come at a better time for England, but then again it’s hard to see this Irish side allowing themselves to lose twice in a row.

ENGLAND V IRELAND, Twickenham (4.00) Referee: Mark Lawrence (South Africa) Overall: Played 122, England 70 wins, 8 draws, Ireland 44 wins.

Leading try scorers: England: Mark Cueto 15, Lewis Moody 9, Jonny Wilkinson 6. Ireland: Brian O’Driscoll 38, Geordan Murphy 19, David Wallace 12, Tommy Bowe 11.

Betting (Paddy Powers): 10/11 England, 18/1 Draw, 10/11 Ireland.

Forecast: Ireland to win.