Visitors will probably pursue a more conservative approach in chasing a one-off result but this Ireland team embraces the pressure to perform
Instead of having to run the gauntlet into heavily manned defences, there are now gaps between defenders and around the rucks as both Conor Murray and Wales scrumhalf Rhys Webb discovered and utilised last weekend.
The French were superb, mentally and physically attuned for the rigours of what they would face at Twickenham and therefore able to engineer a first victory in London in 18 years. Jonathan Danty of France is tackled by England's Henry Slade at Twickenham. Danty was outstanding for the visitors. He provides the glue that attaches all the other parts to the central attacking mechanism. Photograph: Mike Hewitt/Getty Images
Owen Farrell tackled Gregory Alldritt off the ball at the ruck just before Steward barrelled into a couple of bodies at that breakdown close to the line, exactly where the French number eight would have been had he not been pulled back by the English replacement. The former Irish fullback and Tigers icon Murphy had done much of the recruitment for the following season and Borthwick benefited from that foresight as the club would subsequently win the English Premiership.
At the moment it is hard to see any progress in their approach, if anything it feels more of a regression. That doesn’t mean that England can’t pose a formidable challenge at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday. My gut feeling tells me that bold calls like starting Marcus Smith at outhalf will be reversed for a more conservative approach in chasing a one-off result.
While the pressure isn’t off them, it has shifted slightly and there is a freedom in that; the message will be clear, “do whatever you need, just win this match”. Jamison Gibson-Park was ready and waiting to move the point of attack, as did Johnny Sexton with a trademark wrap around shimmy to the wider channel. What happened next was not necessarily made in Ireland but should be used as the template for the next generation.
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