LET’S SPOIL THE PARTY
England plan to ruin Ireland Slam dream
ENGLAND are determined to wreck Ireland’s St Patrick’s Day Grand Slam party today to stop their own Six Nations campaign being a total washout.
Defeat could leave Eddie Jones’ side fifth in the final table after a turbulent campaign.
But their management believe back-to-back losses against Scotland and France will provoke the right reaction.
“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 that we learn them quickly.”
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,” he said.
“Our fans are brilliant – everywhere we’ve been this tournament, they’ve been there.
Cheer
“Twickenham is a special place to play so we want to give them something to cheer about this weekend.”
Last year Ireland’s win in Dublin prevented England clinching the Grand Slam.
But Hartley dismissed the notion revenge will be the major motivating factor today.
“There would be some players who are motivated by that,” said Hartley. “I’m motivated by finishing the tournament on a high after two disappointments.
“I’m motivated by showing the rugby world that we’re still a good team. We do that by beating the current Six Nations champions.
“We’ve obviously had a bit of learning over the last few weeks but we are hungry to perform, we’re hungry to get a result.
“It’s all growth for the team, every setback, every disappointment.”
After the fallout from his jibes about Ireland and Wales, Jones will be eager to turn the conversation back to the subject of an impressive England win come full-time.
“This is a great opportunity to finish what has been a fantastic Six Nations,” said Jones.
“Ireland are worthy champions but we are out to prove we’re still a good team. We will prove that.”