England emerge as greatest threat to Ireland in Six Nations championship

After all the speculation and supposition over the last few weeks, the opening round of Six Nations action provided concrete evidence of things to come.

So on the basis of that opening salvo, where do Ireland stand now and who is likely to pose the greatest threat to the defence of our championship crown?

A raft of statistics are made available by the office of the Six Nations in the buildup to the tournament but the thing that resonated most with me was the injury list that accompanied all the squads named in last Friday’s tournament supplement with this paper.

England and Ireland topped that list with 12 casualties each with Stuart Lancaster’s containing a lot more potential starters. At the other end of the scale sat Wales with a measly three, none of whom were serious contenders to start in any game.

Surely that put Warren Gatland’s men in a very strong position not only for the crucial opener against England but for the tournament itself?

As with all statistics, they are what you make of them. What we now know is that, despite fielding a very experienced team with 11 Lions Test starters, Wales were taken to the cleaners by an England side that was unrecognisable from the one that stuttered through the recent November series.

While I was more than confident coming into the tournament that England would pose the biggest obstacle to Ireland’s aspirations over the next few weeks, what transpired in Cardiff was the most rounded performance from an England side that we have seen for a long time.

This win and the manner with which they confronted numerous challenges will not only serve to stand them in good stead for this tournament but should extend all the way to the World Cup where they are set for another explosive clash against Wales.

If we needed any confirmation that England, despite a raft of injuries to their forward resources, still retained a rich vein of strong ball carriers and ball winners, we got that in Cork when their fourth choice pack, under the guise of the Saxons, thoroughly outplayed the Wolfhounds at Musgrave Park.

Despite the loss of Courtney Lawes, Joe Launchbury, Tom Wood, Alex Corbisiero, Dave Wilson and Geoff Parling to his match day squad, Stuart Lancaster’s men blew Wales away up front.

However it was behind the scrum where England made the most gains. Had Manu Tuilagi and Brad Barritt been available they would most likely have started in midfield but in their absence the recent club form of Luther Burrell and Jonathan Joseph earned them a starting slot alongside Bath’s 20-year-old sensation Anthony Watson on the wing.

Watson and especially Joseph brought a dynamism, pace and stepping ability to England out wide that transformed their play.

At long last England appear to have stumbled on the missing ingredient of a cutting edge that has eluded them for years.

This win could yet prove highly significant as, in adversity and with their backs to the wall to avoid a repeat of that shattering 30-3 slaughter on the same stage two years ago, England were transformed into a team in the true sense of the word.

The mind games favoured by Gatland in the build up about team selection and whether or not the roof should be closed backfired horribly on Wales.

All they succeeded in doing was backing England into a corner which forced them to unite as one or die. Evidence they were a galvanised unit was obvious from first sighting.

Chris Robshaw’s defiance in the tunnel was from the Martin Johnson school of captaincy. It set the tone for the evening.

The implications for Ireland are obvious but before contemplating what we have to do to beat the English at the Aviva Stadium there is the not insignificant matter of having to deal with the French challenge on Saturday.

In the context of their Champions Cup quarter-final in Dublin against Bath, I have no doubt Leinster coach Matt O’Connor will also have noted the impact of their trio of England backs against Wales in Watson, Joseph and 22-year-old out-half George Ford.

Those in the know across the water regard Ford very highly and he could yet prove a thorn in the aspirations of both Leinster and Ireland over the course of a few weeks.

But back to the French. Last Saturday’s win over a much improved Scottish side told us nothing we didn’t know. The French never look overly convincing these days and have lost the art of putting teams away.

When they win, they just about make it over the line and while they are big and powerful up front, they are nowhere near as technically proficient as Ireland when it comes to launching their maul.

They rely on brute force — and they have plenty of that — whereas Ireland deliver a more coordinated drive that maximises the combined strength of all eight forwards working in unison.

Of more concern from an Irish perspective was the hint of improvements in their attacking play. Last season and especially in their three Test series whitewash by Australia last June, you got the impression the French backs were in the dark as to what the player next to him is likely to do in possession.

Against Scotland there were signs that might be changing with more shape and better attacking options open to a back line crammed with brilliant individual talent.

In recent times the French have encountered great difficultly in breaking down the well-marshalled defensive strategies implemented by all the top sides and appeared to struggle for ideas after a few phases.

To be fair, they weren’t alone on that front with just a paltry six tries scored in the three games at the weekend. France also displayed a lack of composure in the scoring zone and butchered a number of promising chances within yards of the Scottish line. Some day soon they will rectify those glitches.

Ireland will be better for last weekend’s outing and the prospect of adding Johnny Sexton, Jamie Heaslip and possibly Sean O’Brien to the starting side will add enormously to the overall direction and leadership on the field.

The only question on that front surrounds whether or not Sexton will be able to slot back seamlessly after 12 weeks without a game. It appears a big ask but I guess Sexton will know better than anyone how prepared he is.

As for what happens further down the line, the game between Scotland and Wales in Murrayfield on Sunday will tell us more about what the final phase of the championship holds in store for Ireland should they emerge triumphant from the back-to-back phase of home games against the enormous physical challenge sure to be posed by France and England.

The implications of the trips to Cardiff and Edinburgh can be put on the long finger for the moment. The Irish coaching staff have enough on their plate, not least in dealing with the challenge that gargantuan French pack are sure to pose on Saturday.