England vs Ireland: World Cup starts here, says Graham Rowntree
The hosts’ warm-up programme is delicately balanced
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.England are still in a good position to make home advantage count heavily in their favour at the World Cup, which is now less than a fortnight distant, but a Twickenham defeat at the hands of Ireland on Saturday afternoon will change perceptions at the worst moment. “The tournament starts here,” said Graham Rowntree, the red-rose forwards coach. No pressure then.
The hosts’ warm-up programme is delicately balanced: victory over France in London in the opening game – encouraging in the attacking sense, alarmingly poor in some of the close-quarter areas long considered to be a strength – was more than offset by a dire loss to the same opponents in Paris. If the first performance was semi-positive, the second was entirely negative.
According to Paul O’Connell, the Ireland captain, Twickenham remains a testing venue for visiting sides – even those who conduct regular Six Nations business on the old cabbage patch. “It’s a daunting venue, definitely,” he said. “I thought we’d landed a big punch on them when we last played there in 2014, but they showed their mental strength by coming through. That defeat was a big blow to us.”
Yet while no European side has won at Twickenham since Wales sneaked past England with a fortunate late try in February 2012, there have been too many bad days against the southern hemisphere superpowers to support any suggestion that a fortress has been successfully constructed. If things go wrong now, everyone will believe they can sack the place.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments