England would have beaten any side, says McGeechan
RUGBY legend Sir Ian McGeechan believes England could have triumphed over any team in the world at Twickenham at the weekend with Eddie Jones’ side on form against Ireland.
Writing for The Telegraph, McGeechan, who coached Scotland on two occasions and four Lions tours, says he has rarely seen England look better - after they’ve learned from their mistakes in Cardiff a fortnight ago, when Wales bounced back to secure a 13-6 win.
“They have clearly learnt the lessons of their games against Wales toget to a stage where they look fully-loaded and ready for the World Cup “, McGeechan, 72, (pictured) says.
“It has been many years since I haveseen Ireland so ineffective, and their games against Wales will now take onhuge and unexpected significance.
“But this game was not about how poor Ireland were, it was all about howspectacularly good England were. Their accuracy, balance and variety wereall outstanding, and in this form any team in the world could have taken atanking off them at Twickenham, although this 57-15 thrashing will havecomfortably exceeded Schmidt’s worst nightmares.”
Ireland now head to Wales next weekend for the first of two remaining World Cup warm-ups. Warren Gatland will oversee his last Wales game at the Principality Stadium on Saturday, August 31, with the return fixture in Dublin taking place the following weekend on September 7. He will name his official 31-man Rugby World Cup squad in between, on Sunday, September 1.
Despite the humiliation endured at Twickenham, McGeechan points to the events of four years ago - when Wales snatched victory from England to keep Ireland’s spirits up.
He added: “Although he will be staggered by this result, Schmidt will try to keep itin perspective given that Ireland are at a different stage of theirpreparation to England.
“As for Eddie Jones, he knows that every unit in his side delivered for himagainst Ireland. But he, too, will keep this win in perspective. After all,four years agoEngland monstered Wales in a pre-World Cup warm-up game andwe all know what happened next. But for now, he will be one happy man.”