When the shamrock meets the rose something has to give

IN his playing days Jeremy Guscott was the suave, side-stepping English centre of excellence. And time hasn’t eroded his ability to dodge the oncoming hit.

"I never said that this championship would be a two-horse race," he protests. "I always reckoned that Ireland would be there, or thereabouts."

Guscott denies he fell into the same trap as those who bemoaned the Six Nations organisers for scheduling the "Championship decider" between England and France on the opening weekend of the campaign.