Eddie’s anger management

‘ANGRY England’ are revved up to wreck Ireland’s St Patrick’s Day Grand Slam party today and prevent their own Six Nations campaign from being a washout.

Defeat could leave England in fifth place in the table but Eddie Jones, below, and his coaching team believe the losses to Scotland and France have provoked a reaction from his chastened squad.

“I’d say they’re angry and I’d say they’re competitive as well,” said scrum coach Neal Hatley. “There’s obviously a certain bit of anger over what’s happened across the last two weeks, which is what you’d expect from this group of players.

“You learn from losing. There have been big lessons for us to take and we have to make sure we learn them quickly.” Ireland have been as surprised as anyone at England’s slump but are assuming that the real England will show up today at Twickenham, where the home side have not lost in the championship for six years. Irish captain Rory Best said: “We’ve got to assume they will play to the level that we expect them to play, which is right up there as one of the top two teams in the world. England certainly are not just going to hand us a victory. They are

far too good a team and they have far too good a record at Twickenham to suggest that will happen.

“It isn’t going to take just an ordinary performance. Everyone strives for perfection. It’s impossible in a game where we don’t control the opposition, but that’s what we all strive for.

“We have to get very close to it.”

With the championship gone, England captain Dylan Hartley has no interest in where England finish in the table but plenty in how they round off their stuttering campaign.

“This is our last game for a while together so we want to finish on a high,” said Hartley. “Our fans are brilliant – everywhere we’ve been this tournament they have been there – and Twickenham is a special place to play.

“So we want to give them something to cheer about this weekend.”