Greatest team

the team have come across before. I had some truly defining moments in Ireland, some good (the refusal to change ends before our win in 2003) and some niggling, painful defeats (the rescheduled Test of 2001, which blew our chance for a first Grand Slam).

Ireland in Dublin hurts. The hits are elbows and knees, the ferocity is relentless. Two defeats in a row would hurt Ireland and their players’ Lions chances, so they will be whirling dervishes.

As there is no Grand Slam or championship on the line for Ireland, it will also release any inhibition in their play.

England will be pushed and pulled to breaking point, and unless they are rock solid, they will shatter. This is where they will have to show their mettle; can they ride out the storm, and the ferocity that will inevitably come? Can they remain calm enough to take the points and opportunities when they arise?

I have watched England 2017 grow and I have seen them up close and personal. Their quality is evident, as is the drive of their coach who has called the game against Ireland a World Cup final. It may not quite be that, but should England win back-to-back Grand Slams – without George Kruis, and with Mako and Billy Vunipola and Anthony Watson missing for nearly four games, four players who are genuinely world class – then there can be no question that this would be the finest England team of the Six Nations professional era.

It would be a breathtaking chapter in their development and rightly deserves to be written in the history books.