Dominic Crotty: Never a meaningless battle

Former Ireland and Munster full-back Dominic Crotty casts his eye over Ireland's clash with England this weekend in the 2008 RBS 6 Nations Championship.

Regardless of the sport, there’s no such thing as a meaningless game between Ireland and England.

However, to paraphrase the advert, if Ireland and England ever did a meaningless game, this would be it. Stuck solidly at mid table in the Six Nations, and dropping in the world rankings, the teams are pale shadows of their former selves and the players probably can’t wait to get back to their respective club sides.

The fact that Twickenham will still be packed to its 80,000 seat capacity speaks volumes for the intensity of the rivalry between these two nations. The familiarity of years spent playing each other in European Cup rugby has not bred contempt amongst the players and, come Saturday, you can expect nothing less than total effort on the pitch from the players as if it was their last ever game in the green.

The only hope is that this full effort is accompanied by a vastly improved performance in terms of skill and ambition.

Ireland’s success stories in this campaign have mostly been out wide – the various changes enforced by injury to Brian O’Driscoll, Gordon D’Arcy, Geordan Murphy and Girvan Dempsey have allowed a level of competition for places that has been sorely lacking over the past number of years; so it continues next Saturday with a backline that is unrecognizable from the one that started against Italy.

Undoubtedly, despite everything that has gone on so far, Ireland will miss the influence that Brian O’Driscoll brings. Because of his absence, the center partnership looks a bit one-paced though it will be interesting to see how Andrew Trimble reacts to being out of the shadow of his more illustrious center partner – hopefully it will allow him to express himself a bit more.

Opposite them will be a younger but similarly untried English trio that includes Danny Cipriani, who will be expected to replicate his mercurial performances that he gives on a weekly basis for Wasps.

If Ireland’s forwards shut down his supply of clean possession, then the pressure of being Johnny Wilkinson’s successor may get to be too much for him. In any case, O'Gara will definitely need the experience of Shane Horgan outside his shoulder to dictate the defensive patterns and spot the gaps in the English defence – God knows he (O'Gara) will have enough on his mind doing his duty as team captain.

If you throw in the threat that Lesley Vainikolo brings to his physical mismatch against Tommy Bowe and the battle between Geordan Murphy and Paul Sackie, this game could turn out to be decided by a fascinating struggle between the backlines.

Up front, I think Ireland can squeeze the life out of the English pack. The Irish front eight will be hurting from having played second fiddle against an inferior Welsh pack for much of last weekend’s game – they won’t want that happening for a second week in a row.

In addition, Ireland’s lineout woes seemed to be on the road to recovery although they will have to be in top shape again to counteract the threat that Simon Shaw and his colleagues will bring. While the English will be itching for revenge after last year’s embarrassment in Dublin, this experienced Irish pack should have nothing to fear from them and they have already shown themselves to be a better unit than their younger opponents - I just hope they can replicate that superiority in the English team’s backyard.

Both squads are struggling right now, desperately searching for firm footing both in terms of performance and in terms of a finding a style of play that suits their personnel.

With both teams in a state of transition, the vital presence of experience and leadership in a decision-making role comes in mightily handy and, with O'Gara now assuming the captain’s role, that’s where I think Ireland may have an edge over their opponents in Twickenham. Behind him will be a wealth of experience throughout the team and they will need to bring all that experience to the fore next weekend.

It’s too tight a game to call at this stage but win, lose or draw I hope that Ireland plays with some of the guts and flair that has been missing, presumed lost over the last six months.