England know what was missing against Scotland – this Ireland challenge will decide their Six Nations fate

It was a moment that England, and Twickenham, desperately needed, marked with a noise seldom heard at the grand old ground for several years. As Marcus Smith dropped back into the pocket in those final moments against Ireland in March 2024, a quiet hush of anticipation was swiftly snapped by a roar of approval as the ball bisected the posts, an Irish side seemingly on course for a grand slam upset by an English side finding the sort of performance that had eluded them at home for so long.

While there had been wins over Italy and Wales at home under Steve Borthwick before, and plenty of struggles since, Smith’s strike was the moment that really gave the head coach’s tenure lift-off. England had looked a muddle at Murrayfield a round prior, caught between embracing a new identity and that which they knew, and falling down the crevasse in between. A shock win over Ireland restored fraying faith within the squad. “The players’ trust in you is really important,” Borthwick said afterwards. “It’s vital. If they don’t trust you, it’s so difficult. That’s why it is important to get tangible results. We saw a tangible result and aspects on the grass today.”

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The Six Nations can carry strange echoes of history recent and more distant, and England are in need of the same sort of tonic. Their malady now is not nearly as acute as then but, again, Borthwick and his team must find a way to rid themselves of the lingering shivers from that which afflicted them against Scotland. In the words of hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie, there has been a “feisty” feel to training this week with England encouraged to find the physicality they lacked in falling 17 points behind inside 15 minutes at Murrayfield.

“You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to work that out,” assistant coach Kevin Sinfield, a man of many talents but not astrodynamics, said. “Physically, at the start of last weekend, we weren’t where we needed to be. And that can be for a variety of different reasons. We’re all responsible for that. You can’t stand at the start of a Test match and be 17-0 behind and expect to claw your way back. We need to be better this week.”

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For England, the championship equations are just as simple: a Six Nations winner can afford a single defeat in this competition but not two. Ireland, after an opening night defeat, are in the same position. This is knockout rugby for would-be challenges to France. In the stratification of the Six Nations, one might currently place each in the same layer – although this could be a weekend that challenges the assumption of an ascending England and a declining Ireland.

The gravitational forces of this fixture have weighed on selection. For Andy Farrell, there are four senior heads – Tadhg Furlong, Tadhg Beirne, Josh van der Flier and Jamison Gibson-Park – recalled to the starting side and a new fly half in Jack Crowley. If there is no doubt that Sam Prendergast can be a great illustrator at his best, his omission from the 23 entirely shows that his pen may have run out of ink for now. Crowley’s solidity defensively and as a goal-kicker may be of particular value.

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“Sam’s a fantastic international player and he's on a journey and is learning and that will never stop. That is the same for Ciaran Frawley,” said Farrell, having included the latter over Prendergast on the bench.

“We have talked all along about the four lads competing with each other and the balance is right for the team this weekend. I suppose, sometimes, you see people come from the back and have nothing to lose, get over themselves and just rip in. We have seen that not just with Jack but with someone as experienced as James Ryan, not selected to start in the first game and came on against France had a storming game.”

Steve Borthwick, too, has largely backed his tried and trusted to deliver the performance they failed to against Scotland, although the bright blond tufts of Henry Pollock will add a different tint from No 8. “He really is full of energy on the pitch and off the pitch,” captain Maro Itoje said of the 21-year-old, who makes his first start. “I can be at dinner quietly eating away and I can hear him shouting in the corner. I think he is good for the group. But I also think there is a steeliness to him that is perhaps hidden in the energy that he exudes. He does have a toughness and a steeliness to him. The more he plays at this level, the more people will see it.”

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Itoje, who becomes the ninth Englishman to reach 100 caps, is at the other end of the experience spectrum, but he and Pollock share bonds with the opposition squad forged on the British and Irish Lions tour to Australia last summer. Even with a few injury absentees, there are 21 players who appeared on that trip primed for a catch-up this weekend; the coaching groups, too, will be familiar with the others’ strengths. If Ireland have in the past exploited England on the edges, Borthwick’s side may back themselves at the scrum and in the air.

As ever, though, it may be a contest decided by a battle of the back fives in the pack. Nine of the 10 starters on show were tourists last summer; the exception, Caelan Doris, may have been the Lion king if not for injury. England, certainly, are not buying talk of an Irish decline, nor of a fatigue factor having provided so much of Farrell’s squad Down Under.

“They are all good players, to a man,” Itoje stressed. “It is going to be a hefty battle and challenge. It is a great opportunity for us as a forward pack, as a back five unit, to gain the upper hand against them.

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“Obviously, it was predominantly an Irish backroom staff, so you got a gist of things that get them going and that they drive. That’s interesting and important for insight, but the game’s very dynamic. I have played in teams where it’s very obvious what we’re doing, but it’s about how you stop it. That’s the opportunity and challenge for us this week as well. They have all these clever plays and moves. For us, it is one thing knowing it’s coming, the second thing is stopping it.”