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'They've shown blood in the water... we can play that rugby against England'
By Josh Raisey
Former Ireland lock Donncha O’Callaghan believes Scotland exposed weaknesses in England’s game that Ireland can exploit on Saturday in round three of the Guinness Six Nations at Twickenham’s Allianz Stadium.
Steve Borthwick’s side were comprehensively beaten 31-20 against Scotland at Murrayfield in round two, where the hosts were able to completely nullify the previously vaunted aerial threat posed by their Calcutta Cup rivals.
Speaking on a For the Love of Rugby and The Offload podcast crossover this week, the former British & Irish Lion said that England were initially “ahead of everyone” in terms of adapting to the new laws around escort lines, but have not “evolved and moved on quickly enough.”
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France and Scotland were praised in terms of the way they transition, while England and Ireland have failed to keep up.
However, O’Callaghan said he saw signs of progress in Ireland’s 20-13 victory over Italy in Dublin, and Andy Farrell has now been provided a “template” on how to beat England this weekend.
“I think what Scotland have done is they’ve held up a mirror, they’ve basically shown blood in the water,” the 46-year-old said.
“I think England were ahead of everyone else in the structural side of the game. When we got rid of escorts, the kicking game suited England so much, but I don’t think they’ve evolved and moved on quickly enough when you look at what Scotland are doing and when you look at what France are doing, Ireland haven’t either. France showed two weeks ago that Ireland are off it. I think Ireland have realised that’s where they need to go, there was a little improvement in that against Italy, and now if you are Andy Farrell and you are prepping that team, you have a template of what Scotland did.
“You can look at what France are trying to do in the game in terms of transitioning it, whereas I think England have been slow to adapt. I know this sounds a bit disrespectful, but you can read where they’re at. I thought under Lee Blackett there would be more to it when it comes to attack and we saw that against Wales, but I feel the fundamental side of that kicking side hasn’t pushed on in England and I think they’ve left crumbs there for everyone else to see how to expose them a bit.
“I do think Andy Farrell will look at it. It’s an area Ireland need to get better at, but what Scotland exposed is what Ireland can do as well. We know we can play that type of rugby against England.”
