Some people seem to think that this year’s Six Nations will trundle along towards an inevitable Grand Slam showdown between Ireland and England in Dublin. That is indeed a mouthwatering prospect, but any talk of Ireland and England being unbeaten on 18th March is extremely premature.
It feels to me like the most competitive Six Nations for a while, and hopefully the standard of rugby will be an improvement on last year. And any talk of improvement has to involve France – they looked a different side in the Autumn, and will fancy a crack at England in the opening match.
They will miss Wesley Fofana, but in Gael Fickou they have chosen a similar backup option – as opposed to Mathieu Bastereaud – and the midfield of Camile Lopez, Remi Lamerat and Fickou could be dangerous if it gets some quick ball. And that’s before you even get to Virimi Vakatawa and Noa Nakatici, the flying Fijians on each wing that will relish running at the smaller Jonny May and Elliot Daly.
England’s defence has been slightly suspect, and they mustn’t take this threat lightly. The England pack should get the upper hand, particularly in the lineout with so many options, and they’ll want to control the game.
Whilst they shouldn’t be surprised if the French disrupt their gameplan, I can see them starting slowly and taking time to adjust to the opposition, but I trust that Eddie Jones will have a plan up his sleeve to make sure England win.
You can’t back anyone to win at Twickenham on current form, so I’m obviously predicting an England win, but I don’t think it will be as straightforward as some seem to think.
My prediction: England by 8
Average Superbru Prediction: England by 11.18
Paddy Power: England by 13
What is your prediction for the match?
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I think England’s fitness, speed and desire to win will get us through. Having gone unbeaten all last year, this team will not want to lose the first match of this year, especially not at Twickers.
I’m expecting a massive game from Itoje on Saturday, and I predict he will be man of the match.
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I think it’ll be 40-20.
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Also, does the URL come up as “https://therugbyblog.com/rate-the-match-scotland-v-ireland-2017” for anyone else, or is my browser just going crazy?
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Weird. I’ve had a few issues with posts overwriting other posts, thought I was losing my mind, but I’ll try and fix!
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England by 12. France definitely look to have improved but I don’t think they have by enough. I think their injuries will hurt them more than England’s have and England seem to be more tactically astute of late. I also think the England bench looks far better.
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