At the moment information
2025-02-01 20:49:00
Amid the scars left by a life within the second row, Steve Borthwick has a superb poker face.
He would not have many tells, conserving his feelings underneath tight rein and his ideas to himself.
However Tuesday was no bluff.
By naming his staff two days early, Borthwick put his playing cards on the desk and challenged Eire to show him flawed.
England caught with Marcus Smith at fly-half and Freddie Steward at full-back, picked debutant Cadan Murley on the wing and wager the home on a again row of Ben Earl, Tom Curry and his twin brother Ben.
The choice was an announcement of intent; to win the air, to sap Eire’s pace with a nuisance floor recreation and throw a defensive blanket over their assault.
For 40 minutes, Borthwick’s plan paid out.
England scored the opening strive early as Smith ran again a kick, Ollie Lawrence busted a gap and Henry Slade’s cute grubber put the ball on a platter for Murley.
Earl and the Twindaloo – Sale followers’ nickname for the Curry brothers – have been inflicting Eire’s assault indigestion.
They steamed into the breakdown, slowing the ball as potential attackers have been drawn in to safe the provision traces.
The defence was up flat and quick, scattering Eire’s attacking patterns. And by shortening the line-out – a possible space of weak spot – they thinned out Eire’s thicket of jumpers.
New skipper Maro Itoje confirmed his captaincy smarts, ensuring that Ben O’Keeffe noticed and heard the sly maintain that Tadhg Beirne had of his leg, leaving the referee no possibility however to chalk off an Eire strive.
It was promising.
Having trailed on the break in each Six Nations match final yr, England reached 40 minutes 5 forward.
It might have been even higher.
They have been hobbled by Smith’s sin-binning for 10 minutes.
After some brave defence it was solely on the final passage of that power-play that Eire managed to attain, as James Lowe shrugged off Alex Mitchell like a moist cagoule to place in Jamison Gibson Park.
The Aviva jangled with nerves on the interval.
Reminiscences of 2019, when an unfancied England aspect plotted the proper opening-day heist to derail Eire, all of the sudden appeared extra vivid.
By full-time although they, like England, had disintegrated.
