Ireland v. England (Aviva Stadium)
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| Matt Banahan practices his "reaching out to grab Drico as he runs past me" pose for this weekend |
Its been the most talked about fixture of the tournament to date and its finally upon us. Can Ireland knock England off their perch and deprive them of a grand slam? Here's what I think.....
Kidney makes 2 changes to his starting line up this week. Luke Fitzgerald has been dropped from the match day squad in place of Andrew Trimble. Trimble takes up his position on the left wing leaving Keith Earls to switch to fullback. Sexton gets the nod ahead of O'Gara at outhalf while Eoin Reddan has recovered from the collision he took from the ball in the opening minutes of the Welsh game. (See below) Unfortunately Thomas O'Leary was ruled out due to an eye injury which he picked up in training. He would have been useful in this game as Ben Youngs is the main source of everything good about England (along with Toby Flood). O'Leary could have put manners on him according to Gerry Thornley and I share the same view.
England make one enforced change in the backs. Matt Banahan replaces Mike Tindall after he sustained an ankle injury against Scotland. You would wonder how that one change could affect the team? In my eyes, its a loss for England. They have replaced a mediocre centre with an average winger playing out of position. Not only that but Tindall is their captain and the loss of a captain is surely a factor in the build up to a game of this magnitude. Nick Easter (their very over rated number 8) takes the captains armband instead.
England haven't won a grand slam since 2003. Some people view that as a pressure the younger players of the team might not be able to handle. 8 years is nothing compared to 61 so in that regard I don't think it will bother them too much. It will however still be a great occasion for them as is any grand slam decider. Ireland have no silverware to play for unfortunately but they never need any extra motivation for the visit of the old enemy. This is Englands first time in the Aviva and Ireland have a chance to stop them winning a grand slam, sounds good to me.
I'm loving the switch of Earls to fullback. He has been Irelands most potent back in the last 2 games and his natural instinct from fullback is to run back the ball. Expect him to counter attack with speed and purpose which is something the team has lacked thus far in the tournament. In fairness to Sexton, he needed to be started. He deserves to be a cut a bit of slack. R'OG has been fantastic this season and Sexton hasn't reacted well to the pressure. He needs a confidence boost and Kidney has given him this in starting him. I'd like to have seen Sean O'Brien get a run at number 8. The mans a wrecking ball and at the minute, Jamie Heaslip is in the team on reputation alone. Apart from pop up on the wing to score a try against the French, he has been pretty anonymous since returning from his injury.
Should Ireland keep the penalty count to a minimum then I can see them winning this game. Toby Flood hasn't missed a kick all tournament (I think) and with Johnny Wilkinson sitting on the bench, he can't afford to. Flood has been one of Englands best players this year. He has been solid with the boot and great to spot a gap and bring his backline into the game.
Ireland usually have one good performance in them every tournament. We have seen it in drips and drabs so far. An 80 minute performance is required to beat England and I think it will come.
RT Prediction: Ireland
Look out for: Drico running rings around Banahan
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