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Ruining Ireland's Grand Slam bid doesn't come into it - Moody

England’s players sing the national anthem
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England will be more concerned with winning for each other rather than ending Ireland’s hopes of a Grand Slam when they face the new Six Nations champions at Twickenham on Saturday, according to Lewis Moody.

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Following successive away defeats to Scotland and France, England have been dethroned as champions, having won the previous two editions of the competition.

Ireland denied England the Grand Slam last year with victory in the finale in Dublin, and this weekend’s clash at Twickenham gives Eddie Jones’ men the chance to gain a measure of revenge and end a disappointing campaign on a high.

The build-up to the clash has been marred by controversy over the emergence of footage featuring England coach Jones making offensive comments at an event for Japanese company Fuso last July, the Australian “unreservedly” apologising for calling the Irish “scummy” and Wales a “little s*** place”.

Ireland coach Joe Schmidt has insisted his team will be unaffected by those remarks and former flanker Moody, who won the World Cup with England in 2003, does not expect the hosts to give the game extra significance because of the opportunity to deny Schmidt’s men a Slam.

Speaking on behalf of Land Rover, Moody said: “They’ll be more concerned with winning at home and putting to bed those last two defeats.

“They aren’t accustomed to losing and they’re certainly not accustomed to losing three games on the trot.

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“All that will be on their mind is going out at Twickenham and winning for each other.

“It won’t be about winning for the country and all those sorts of things, it’ll be about proving to each other and every member of that team that they are as good as they were prior to coming into this competition and as good as they continue to desire to be.

“I think England at home are a very difficult side to go and beat. I know Ireland will put up a huge challenge but I’d like to think England could sneak it by five, especially as Ireland have already won the Six Nations.”

Lewis Moody is a Land Rover ambassador. Land Rover is celebrating its Testimonial Season, with 10 years supporting grassroots rugby in the UK. Follow @LandRoverRugby #WeDealInReal

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NoLongerARuck 1 hour ago
Nations Championship: 'The data shows the north has finally caught up with the south'

The Six Nations produced so many compelling games and so much of action packed moments that you can only conclude that its the best international comp out there at the moment except for a world cup. If Wales improve it will be even better especially given the strides Italy have made in recent times. The Rugby Championship is now taking a hiatus in a year it really should be building toward something better which is terrible considering the competition was so tight last year. The Nations Champs promises much but one gets the feeling that the 6 Nations teams will not be at their peak given its at the end of their long season. In terms of rugby quality and entertainment Id rather watch the 6 Nations over everything else other than a world cup right now. The North arguably offers more in terms of entertainment than the South at club level as well. The Prem, the Champs Cup, URC and Top 14 all feature plenty of scoring and different playing styles while Super Rugby seems to be the same thing game in game out. While the South tries to speed up the game artificially with new trials and law variations the North has shown you can do it with good refereeing which penalises cynical play harshly and encourages positive actions on the field. In terms of entertainment the North wins. In terms of winning? They are making strides but until they win another world cup or get a team to rank number 1 again for an extended time again they cant really say they are better than the South.

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