24.02.2015 – England travel to Ireland for the third round of Six Nations fixtures on Sunday 29th February in a contest that could well decide who wins the championship. Both teams have won their opening two fixtures and lie 1st and 2nd in the table with England on top with superior points difference.
England have been mighty impressive so far with wins over Wales and Italy in the opening two rounds. Going into the tournament, expectations were not high for an injury hit England side who are missing key players such as Owen Farrell but will be boosted by performances from Jonathan Joseph who has scored 3 tries in 2 matches and is becoming an integral part of the England setup. The resurgence of Danny Cipriani will be a boost for Stuart Lancaster going into this weekend.
Ireland have made a solid start to the Six Nations Championships with victories over Italy and France respectively despite failing to score a try last time out. Jonathan Sexton has been in fine form after converting five penalties against the French and will be available for selection against England after needing stitches in the last game.
Ireland will certainly be boosted by the fact they are at home in front of a capacity crowd at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. England will need to tighten things up at the back having conceded 3 tries against Italy despite fine form in attack. Having only scored 2 tries so far, Ireland will need to improve in that department but will take confidence from the fact that they have only conceded 14 points so far, less than any team in the competition. This highly anticipated match promises to be a great occasion whatever the outcome.
