The Irish midfield will be severely tested, once again, this weekend.
Six journalists - one Irish and five English - were asked for their Six Nations mid-term report during a break in interviews at England's training base at Pennyhill Park.
Only one, Alex Spink of the Daily Mirror, predicted an Irish win while Chris Foy and Robert Kitson [Daily Mail and Guardian] praised Ireland's winning streak of nine games and "clever" Joe Schmidt.
Chris of the Evening Standard was complimentary about Ireland, whom he described as very, very dangerous. However, Jones believes he has spotted a flaw in the current team.
He says, 'I do fear you miss the midfield threat you had with Brian O'Driscoll and Gordon D'Arcy. Unless you are going to put Brian in a wheelchair, you've got to change him at some point.
'The guys they have brought in [Robbie Henshaw and Jared Payne] are rather limited. They are going to get exposed by England.'
Up front, Jones feels, Ireland are as horrible to play against as ever.
Interesting…. The big news in Irish rugby yesterday was the possibility of Ireland poaching one of the hottest prospects in Australia, tighthead prop Massimo De Lutiis. Reports have said that the IRFU have made contact his club, the Queensland Reds, but there have been no contract discussions with the 22-year-old himself. However, due to the […]
This would be some steal. It is being reported from Australia that Ireland are bidding to poach one of the brightest rugby prospects in the country. Daily Telegraph journalist, Jamie Pandaram, has said that the IRFU are looking to bring the Irish-qualified Massimo De Lutiis to these shores in an ‘eye-watering’ deal. The 22-year-old Queensland […]
He was not happy… Leicester Tigers travelled to play Gloucester at Villa Park in the English Premiership this afternoon. The visitors, who are third in the league, finished as 17-36 winners. However, there was a touch of controversy before the game when TNT presenter Liam MacDevitt took a penalty kick at the goal posts, under […]