The theory was that Eddie Jones’ side would be weighed down by hunting a win milestone but it is Ireland who have so far failed to deal with Six Nations pressureIn the gap between rounds three and four of this Six Nations Championship, the former Ireland centre Gordon D’Arcy put together an interesting column in the Irish Times on the pressure weighing down England. Related: Ireland fail to set up showdown while Wales must convince against France | Paul Rees Related: George Ford says England are in no mood to ease up against Ireland Continue reading...
New Zealand’s superior statistics in their 18-game winning run do not deter England’s Eddie Jones from insisting his team aspire to end up as world No1Back in the early 1980s, there were few more futile things a man could do than try to pursue a career in competitive squash. Because to be the best, you had to beat Jahangir Khan. And between April 1981 and November 1986 Khan won so many consecutive matches that even statisticians lost track of the exact count. Most figure it was around 555, making it the longest winning streak in the history of sport. “It wasn’t my plan to create such a record,” Khan once said. “All I did was put in the effort to...
Under Eddie Jones the defending champions have run away with a tournament that was expected to be the most competitive for yearsIt is easy to forget this was supposed to be the most open Six Nations in years. England, by retaining their title with a week to spare, have already cantered up the hill like a runaway Cheltenham Gold Cup favourite, leaving several notable records in their wake. Another grandstand finish in Dublin and they can enter the special enclosure reserved for the most elite of champions.This was hardly Scottish rugby’s proudest weekend but, by anyone’s standards, the ruthlessness with which England carved up their stricken old rivals to equal their highest Calcutta Cup winning margin was impressive. Challenged to...
Dropped against Italy, the centre returned to deliver stiletto blows to Scotland and earn a standing ovation in England’s Six Nations title triumphThree minutes past the last, England were still playing. They had nothing to gain now, except seven points on top of the 54 they had already scored. But they still had something to prove, to Eddie Jones, who rode them hard in the previous week, and to everyone who watched them against Italy, Wales, and France and wondered whether they were good enough to win this Six Nations, or worthy rivals to the world’s No1 side, New Zealand, whose record of 18 consecutive victories they have now equalled.So they kept running at the Scots, moving the ball back...
Robbie Henshaw’s blunder leaves Ireland hoping to merely be killjoys in Dublin, but despite their win Wales still have plenty to prove in ParisAfter suffering successive championship defeats to Wales in Cardiff for the first time in 34 years, Ireland go into the final round of matches next Saturday in the position they were in 2011 – out to stop England winning the grand slam rather than tilting for the title.There will be no winner-takes-all showdown at the Aviva Stadium between the two sides expected to dominate the Lions squad this summer as a season that started with the loudest of statements as the All Blacks were beaten in Chicago threatens to end in mute disappointment. Related: George North’s two...