TWICKERS HOLDS NO FEARS
Quinlan: Irish will ease to victory
ALAN QUINLAN claims that Ireland can blow England away at Twickenham – but he doesn’t see it happening.
Instead, the former Munster and Leinster great predicts that Andy Farrell’s side won’t be able to fire on all cylinders but will still come out on top by eight to 10 points.
The home of English rugby holds no fears for Farrell’s men who know that victory will move them to within one more victory of never before achieved back to back Grand Slams.
“When you look at the last three Six Nations games, Ireland have won by 13-16 points,” Quinlan (inset) said. “The spread is 12 points and I think that’s pretty accurate.
“England will cause them problems but my fear for
England is that they should be mindful that if this Ireland team changes gears, they can be very dangerous.
“If Ireland have that ruthless edge at Twickenham it could be a very long day for England.
“But my prediction is Ireland to win in a close run game by 8 to 10 points.”
Ireland are likely to have Garry Ringrose back in the squad, albeit he may have to be content with a place on the bench given the effectiveness of the Robbie Henshaw-bundee Aki partnership in this championship.
Hugo Keenan appears to be facing a race against time to be fit again after his knee injury, so Ciarán Frawley is primed to continue in the No.15 shirt.
But Ireland will travel in confidence having won their last four games against the Red Rose – who claimed victory in the four consecutive meetings before that.
“When you look at the last three Six Nations games with a warm up game in there as well, it’s a great record,” said Betway ambassador Quinlan.
“But if you look back to the 2020 Six Nations, England had a lot of explosiveness in their ranks, especially with the two Tuilagi brothers firing on all cylinders.
“Tom Curry and Underhill are incredible wing forwards when they’re at the top of their game and Maro Itoje was a real nuisance and presence on the field in the game.
“There’s been a change since then. England still have a very strong physical team, they proved in the World Cup that they can impose themselves physically and be dominant in those collisions and have a good set piece.
“But there’s more in this English side – and attack is something that needs to be addressed.
“We’ve seen glimpses and you can’t blame Steve Borthwick for going to the World Cup and trying to keep things pretty simple. It took Mike Catt and Andy Farrell a bit of time to bring cohesion into Ireland.
“It’s down to quality and talent as well as players that are great footballers.
“Ireland have a team full of ball carriers who can catch, pass and link up really well. Change in the mindset and change in the way England play would be down to personnel as well.”