England – Ireland

England will host Ireland at Twickenham in the last round of the 2018 Six Nations and while the Irish have already won the title, England will be desperate to get a win and deny their rivals a Grand Slam – just like Ireland did to England in the last round last year.

England was flying high coming into this tournament and was hoping for a 3rd straight title, but it has been a campaign to forget for Eddie Jones’s men. England started with a routine 31 point win in Italy but failed to impress in any of their next three games. They struggled to beat Wales at home 12-6, before losing in Scotland (13-25) and in France (16-22). The level of play was underwhelming for a team of England’s caliber, as they often lacked penetration and creativity in attack. There have also been some off the court distractions for the Three Lions ahead of this game, but that shouldn`t matter come game time.

It would be a stretch to say that Ireland has been perfect in this competition, as they had their problems and navigated through a few close games – none closer than the first round match in France, when Ireland needed a last second wonder drop goal from Sexton to claim a 15-13 win. But they played great rugby overall, showing killer instinct and character, a trait of every big team. After the win in France, they played their next three games at home, beating Italy by 37, Wales by 10 and Scotland by 20.

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Team news & lineups:

England will make no less than 7 changes to the lineup which lost in France last week, changes being made by choice, not due to injuries. The big news is Farrell being moved at No.10 instead of Ford, a move which really has the potential to make England better. Ireland will make just one change to the lineup that beat Scotland last Saturday.

England: 15 Anthony Watson, 14 Jonny May, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Ben Te’o, 11 Elliot Daly, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Richard Wigglesworth, 8 Sam Simmonds, 7 James Haskell, 6 Chris Robshaw, 5 George Kruis, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Dylan Hartley (c), 1 Mako Vunipola

Ireland: 15 Rob Kearney, 14 Keith Earls, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Johnny Sexton, 9 Conor Murray, 8 CJ Stander, 7 Dan Leavy, 6 Peter O’Mahony, 5 Iain Henderson, 4 James Ryan, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Rory Best (c), 1 Cian Healy

Listen, Ireland has been hands down the best team in the tournament and will be fired up to claim their third Grand Slam ever, and first one since 2009. But their perfect winning record does make them a bit overrated. Fact is things could have easily gone differently for them.

First of all, Ireland had a perfect schedule, meeting Wales and Scotland at home, and the game against Wales was a real challenge. Even against Scotland, despite winning by 20, they had a fair share of luck. And above all, there was that fortunate win in the opening round in France.

That`s not to say Ireland isn`t playing great rugby, but they do have their weaknesses, and a hurt English team can speculate them at home. Ireland has odds around 1.95 in this match, and to be honest it`s hard to say any visiting team aside from New Zealand is worthy of such low odds at Twickenham.

England has been the second best team in the world for some time now, and a few average performances in this year’s Six Nations does not mean they lost their quality. This is the same English team which dominated the tournament in the last two years, and it was just a case of a slight loss of form this season. The schedule was also difficult and did not help.

Today the Three Lions should be completely focused and up for the game, it`s a huge clash with plenty at stake. They fight for pride, but they will also want revenge after last season Ireland denied them the Grand Slam in a perfectly mirrored situation, with England having 4 wins and going to Ireland in Round 5 – losing that one.

We should see a different England this time around compared with the previous matches, especially with the tweaks that were made in the lineup – particularly Farrell being moved at No. 10, something fans have been shouting for for a long time. This move should give a better combination at both the 9-10 and 12-13 positions, which should translate into better and faster ball movement, as well as more penetrating power.

Look for a titanic battle on all spectrums of the field, as both teams will be desperate for the win, but the importance of home court advantage in the Six Nations just can`t be understated, especially when it comes to England and Twickenham. The Irish are not perfect, and a hurt England side should have enough to claim the win with the help of the home crowd.

Ireland hasn`t won in England since 2010, and lost 6 of the last 8 H2H meetings overall. My tip here will be England to win and I`m confident enough in my analysis to go with max stakes on this one. Prediction: England – Ireland 26 – 18.

Pick: England
Odds: 2.01 @ 1xBet
Stake: 10
Possible profit: 10.10
Event date: 17 March