After three near misses, now could be the time for England to win that elusive Six Nations Grand Slam.
With the World Cup just seven months away, Martin Johnson's star-studded team would then travel to the finals in the knowledge that it has also beaten New Zealand, Australia and South Africa.
Since the last World Cup, where England lost in the quarterfinals to South Africa, Johnson's men have won 30 out of 34 tests. Three of the losses were in matches with the Grand Slam on the line.
That's why a victory over Ireland at Lansdowne Road tomorrow, when the Irish also will be chasing their first Grand Slam since 1948, would be such a confidence booster heading into the World Cup in Australia.
``We know what's happened the last three or four years and we are determined not to let it happen again. It's as simple as that,'' said England captain Martin Johnson.
``It's been disappointing and I'm sure everyone's disappointed. I'm sure the fans are and we just want to put it right. But generally in rugby you get what you deserve.
``We are away from home in a hostile environment and it's a very good team we are playing against. If we don't play well they could not only beat us but beat us well. We've got to produce something of the order of what we've produced all season,'' Johnson said.
``There's no magic little button you press. It's just hard work. A Grand Slam is a Grand Slam, and it would be great to do it in World Cup year to go as European champions.''
While England has strolled to victories over France, Italy, Wales and Scotland, the Irish come off a last-gasp 25-24 victory over the Welsh in Cardiff, where Ronan O'Gara kicked a matchwinning drop goal deep into injury time.
Ireland captain Brian O'Driscoll, one of the best centers in world rugby, admitted that scare might just be the warning that his team needed to raise its game against the English.
``We've fought through for 80 minutes and sometimes 90 minutes in games to beat off sides when it looked as though we were going to lose at the death,'' he said.
``So I think to be playing not at our best but still winning gives us an awful lot of confidence.
``We know that when we do hit our top form then we're capable of beating anyone in the world and we'll need to have that if we're going to beat England.''
His partner at center, Kevin Maggs, hopes to celebrate a first Irish Grand Slam for 55 years while making his 50th appearance. He says all the pressure will be on England.
``Let's not forget England have beaten everyone at Twickenham, including all the southern hemisphere teams. They are the number one ranked team in the world right now, but they lost the last time they were in Dublin,'' Maggs said.
``The last four years, when they have been up for the Grand Slam they have failed at the final hurdle. So we hope that won't be different this year.''
Today -- before Ireland and England face each other in Dublin for the Six Nations title, Grand Slam and Triple Crown -- last year's champion France plays Wales in Paris and Scotland hosts Italy in Edinburgh.
The Welsh look almost certain to finish last while France, four points from four games, are in a good position to hold onto third place.
Doping fears prevented former US Open champion Emma Raducanu from treating insect bites on the eve of the Australian Open, she said, with players increasingly wary about ingesting contaminated substances. The British player was speaking in the wake of high-profile doping cases involving Iga Swiatak and Jannik Sinner. “I would say all of us are probably quite sensitive to what we take on board, what we use,” the 22-year-old said, recalling an incident on Friday. “I got really badly bitten by, I don’t know what, like ants, mosquitoes, something. I’m allergic, I guess,” she added. The bites “flared up and swelled up really a
The NHL postponed the Los Angeles Kings’ home game against the Calgary Flames on Wednesday with several massive wildfires burning across the greater Los Angeles area. The Kings and Flames were scheduled to play on Wednesday night at the Kings’ downtown arena. The NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers were scheduled to host the Charlotte Hornets in the same arena last night. “Our hearts are with our entire Los Angeles community,” the Kings said in a statement. “We appreciate the hard working first responders who are diligently working to contain the fire and protect our community. We appreciate the league’s support in keeping our
TWO IN A WEEK: Despite an undefeated start to the year playing alongside Jiang Xinyu of China, Wu Fang-hsien is to play the Australian Open with a Russian partner Taiwan’s Wu Fang-hsien yesterday triumphed at the Hobart International, winning the women’s doubles title at the US$275,094 outdoor hard-court tournament, while McCartney Kessler lifted the trophy in the women’s singles. Fourth-ranked Wu and partner Jiang Xinyu of China took 1 hour, 15 minutes to defeat Romania’s Monica Niculescu and Fanny Stollar of Hungary, 6-1, 7-6 (8/6) at the Hobart International Tennis Centre, their second title in a week. Wu and Jiang on Sunday won the women’s doubles title at the ASB Classic in Auckland, beating Serbia’s Aleksandra Krunic and Sabrina Santamaria of the US. Their winning ways continued in Australia as they stretched
EL CLASSICO: La Liga champions Real Madrid would face Barcelona in the Super Cup final tomorrow. Barca secured their final spot after a 2-0 win over Bilbao on Wednesday Real Madrid would chase a record-equaling 14th Spanish Super Cup title in the final against Barcelona after second-half goals by Jude Bellingham and Rodrygo helped them to a 3-0 win over Mallorca in the semi-finals on Thursday. England midfielder Bellingham broke the deadlock after the hour mark with a low shot into the middle of the goal before Mallorca defender Martin Valjent’s own goal doubled the lead in stoppage time followed by a Rodrygo strike from close range. Spanish champions Real are to play Barcelona for the trophy tomorrow after goals by Gavi and Lamine Yamal earned Barca a 2-0 win over
RSS