6 NATIONS RUGBY TEST: Grand Slam Clash

19.03.2011
England v Ireland in Dublin (6 Nations)

Venue: Aviva Stadium

Referee: Bryce Lawrence (New Zealand)

Preview

	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	PT
ENGLAND	4	4	0	0	124	57	67	8
WALES	4	3	0	1	86	61	25	6
FRANCE	4	2	0	2	89	82	7	4
IRELAND	4	2	0	2	69	73	4	4
ITALY	4	1	0	3	62	117	-55	2
SCOTLAND	4	0	0	4	61	103	-42	0

This is the BIG one for this years Six Nations Championship. A win to England would give them the Championship, the Triple Crown and the Grand Slam. All going well. But then there is the problem of Ireland.

Ireland hasn’t played well enough to come close to the Championship. They are but a shadow the Grand Slam side of a few years ago. But when crunch comes to..er..shove, they will give England one hell of a fight, especially on their home turf. A win against England would place Ireland in a confident mood leading up to the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

England are without their regular captain Mike Tindall. Fill in captain Nik Easter should be a good replacement while the huge Matt Banham will be a handful for the Irish backs. Its all looking like a win to England, perhaps.

 
Last Five Encounters
27.02.2010 Ireland 20-16 at Twickenham (6 Nations)
28.02.2009 Ireland 14-13 in Dublin (6 Nations)
15.02.2008 England 33-10 at Twickenham (6 Nations)
14.02.2007 Ireland 43-13 in Dublin (6 Nations)
18.03.2006 Ireland 28-24 at Twickenham (6 Nations)

England last won in Dublin, 42-6, in 2003.

England Last Five
13.03.2011 v Scotland W 22-16 at Twickenham (6 Nations; Calcutta Cup)
26.02.2011 v France W 17-9 at Twickenham (6 Nations)
12.02.2011 v Italy W 59-13 at Twickenham (6 Nations)
04.02.2011 v Wales W 26-19 in Cardiff (6 Nations)
27.11.2010 v South Africa L 11-21 at Twickenham

Ireland Last Five
12.03.2011 v Wales L 13-19 in Cardiff (6 Nations)
27.02.2011 v Scotland W 21-18 at Murrayfield (6 Nations)
13.02.2011 v France L 22-25 in Dublin (6 Nations)
05.02.2011 v Italy W 31-11 in Rome (6 Nations)
28.11.2010 v Argentina W 29-9 in Dublin

GWC Rugby Rankings
World Table-England 2nd, Ireland 9th
Europe Table-England 1st, Ireland 4th

IRB Ranking Points
England 83.98, Ireland 81.02

Prediction: England by 12 points

Teams

Ireland
15 Keith Earls 14 Thomas Bowe, 13 Brian O'Driscoll (capt), 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Andrew Trimble, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Eoin Reddan, 8 James Heaslip, 7 David Wallace,
6 Sean O'Brien, 5 Paul O'Connell, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 Michael Ross, 2 Rory Best, 1 Cian Healy.
Replacements
16 Sean Cronin, 17 Thomas Court, 18 Leo Cullen, 19 Denis Leamy, 20 Peter Stringer, 21 Ronan O'Gara, 22 Patrick Wallace.
Head Coach: Declan Kidney

England
15 Benjamin Foden, 14 Christopher Ashton, 13 Matthew Banahan, 12 Shontayne Hape, 11 Mark Cueto, 10 Tobias Flood, 9 Benjamin Youngs, 8 Nicholas Easter, Capt.
7 James Haskell, 6 Thomas Wood, 5 Thomas Palmer, 4 Louis Deacon, 3 Daniel Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley, 1 Alexander Corbisiero.
Replacements
16 Steven Thompson, 17 Paul Doran-Jones, 18 Simon Shaw, 19 Thomas Croft, 20 Daniel Care, 21 Jonny Wilkinson, 22 David Strettle.
Head Coach: Martin Johnson