Ireland favored to clinch Six Nations title at England’s expense at Twickenham

LONDON (AP) — One more bonus-point win and the Six Nations crown is Ireland’s.

Anything less against England at Twickenham on Saturday will be a shock.

History is in the offing for the Irish and they are in the mood to take it.

They can win back-to-back titles. They can stay on track for rare back-to-back Grand Slams. A 12th successive win would give them sole claim to the longest winning streak in the tournament’s 141-year history.

Beside those possible milestones, motivation doesn’t get much easier for Ireland than facing England, the team that, for historical and political reasons, its once-usurped neighbors love to give a beating to most of all.

Prop Cian Healy, who started and won his first match against England in 2010, spoke this week about how they don’t lean as much on emotion as they used to when playing England.

“We’ll try and put out a whopper performance,” Healy said.

“There is a balance in finding the right levels of emotion. It still has its importance but we’re certainly not 100% driven on it. We know what will work, but what makes it work is that fear of being beaten, that fear of losing. That’s really important to have. If you are always hunting, and you’re always a little bit looking over your shoulder, there is a bit more about what you do then.”

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Ireland has been hunting well. Every match has been won by 20-plus points after racking 38 on France, 36 on Italy and 31 on Wales.

Against England, Ireland has won their last four contests, the last three with four tries or more. But they haven’t played a truly competitive match since 2021.

The 2022 win at Twickenham was destined after England’s Charlie Ewels was red-carded after 82 seconds. Last year in Dublin, England’s Freddie Steward was red-carded in the 40th minute. The red was rescinded later by World Rugby. The last matchup was a Rugby World Cup warmup in Dublin in August.

Not much has changed since for Ireland. It is extremely confident in its processes, in how and where each other will be. They play at pace. The set-piece is fearsome, so much so that Dan Sheehan has four tries this year and replaced England captain Jamie George as the most prolific hooker in the Six Nations era.

The team is also settled. Hugo Keenan’s return to fullback after a knee injury was the only change to the side which beat Wales. The freak loss for the rest of the tournament of former captain James Ryan to a bicep injury in training on Wednesday has been offset by the availability of 80-cap Lions lock Iain Henderson.

Star center Garry Ringrose is finally available after a shoulder injury in January and can’t even make the reserves. “Circumstances,” coach Andy Farrell said. “He understands.”

In contrast, England coach Steve Borthwick is still trying to discover his best side, and spark a misfiring attack.

England led Scotland 10-0 then collapsed to lose 30-21 amid 25 handling errors last time out.

“It’s probably the first time in a while I’d seen the weight of the shirt feel heavy on the players,” Borthwick said. “We try to make an environment where the players enjoy it, where we know mistakes are going to be made, but still continue to do the right things.”

He’s retained George Furbank at fullback ahead of Steward, brought in 21-year-old Immanuel Feyi-Waboso on the wing for his first test start and relegated 67-cap Elliot Daly to jersey No. 23. Lock George Martin and scrumhalf Alex Mitchell from the World Cup squad return from injuries.

Backup No. 9 Danny Care could become the sixth Englishman to achieve 100 caps. He debuted in 2008.

“Someone who always puts the team first,” Borthwick said. “The team couldn’t be prouder of his accomplishment.”

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Lineups:

England: George Furbank, Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, Henry Slade, Ollie Lawrence, Tommy Freeman, George Ford, Alex Mitchell; Ben Earl, Sam Underhill, Ollie Chessum, George Martin, Maro Itoje, Dan Cole, Jamie George (captain), Ellis Genge. Reserves: Theo Dan, Joe Marler, Will Stuart, Chandler Cunningham-South, Alex Dombrandt, Danny Care, Marcus Smith, Elliot Daly.

Ireland: Hugo Keenan, Calvin Nash, Robbie Henshaw, Bundee Aki, James Lowe, Jack Crowley, Jamison Gibson-Park; Caelan Doris, James van der Flier, Peter O’Mahony (captain), Tadhg Beirne, Joe McCarthy, Tadhg Furlong, Dan Sheehan, Andrew Porter. Reserves: Ronan Kelleher, Cian Healy, Finlay Bealham, Iain Henderson, Ryan Baird, Jack Conan, Conor Murray, Ciaran Frawley.

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AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby