'When any team puts 50 on you, there's a wee element of surprise there'
Ireland lock Iain Henderson hopes painful memories of being humiliated by England in 2019 can help clinch Triple Crown glory at Twickenham.
Andy Farrell’s side travel to London later this month having made a flying start to the Guinness Six Nations by dispatching Scotland and Wales in successive weeks.
Ireland collapsed to an embarrassing 57-15 defeat to Eddie Jones’ men during a World Cup warm-up match last summer, just over six months after being beaten 32-20 by them on home soil in the Six Nations.
New All Blacks boss Ian Foster has stressed the importance of keeping South Africa in the Rugby Championship.https://t.co/JjPJegCRJP
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) February 10, 2020
Ulster captain Henderson admits the heavier of those two emphatic losses remains etched in Irish minds and is eager to make positive use of that chastening experience when they attempt to complete a clean sweep of victories over the home nations in a fortnight’s time.
“Obviously the Triple Crown is something that would be great to win,” said Henderson.
“But what a lot of the players will be thinking about is the last game that we had in Twickenham and how that definitely didn’t go the way we wanted it to go.
“We’ll definitely be looking back at that and looking to see how we can make improvements and what we can do. I think when any team puts 50 on you, there’s a wee element of surprise there.
“I was quite lucky. I got my cap in 2016 after playing minimal minutes in the Premiership and I thought ‘here we go, I’m an England player’. And I told Eddie that,” https://t.co/i0Y66UUcdm
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) February 9, 2020
“We’ll look back at that, we’ll see what went wrong. But ultimately we’ll be wanting to produce a very different performance.”
Ireland, then under the guidance of former boss Joe Schmidt, shipped eight tries at the home of English rugby last August.
They made it back-to-back victories at the start of a new era under head coach Farrell with Saturday’s convincing 24-14 win over reigning Grand Slam champions Wales in Dublin.
Tries from Jordan Larmour, Tadhg Furlong, Josh Van Der Flier and Andrew Conway secured the statement bonus-point success, which followed an unconvincing opening-weekend win over the unfancied Scots.
Henderson believes a fast, physical start will be essential on February 23 at Twickenham as Ireland strive for further improvement and consistent performances.
“England will definitely be up for it, they’ll be looking to go after us, come out all guns blazing,” continued the 27-year-old.
SIX NATIONS XV – RD2
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– @alexshawsport picks his XV of the week from a wet and windy weekend of rugby ???https://t.co/sKKhkmReSU— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) February 9, 2020
“We’ve got a week off now, a week to regenerate and recuperate, and try and fix what we think needs fixed. And going into that England week we can really ramp up.
“There’s a lot to work on and a lot that we want to get better at and improve. Dominating them physically early on will be key but everyone wants to do that in every game.
“The quality we see in training and the quality we see guys producing for their provinces, we know it’s there and form’s one of those elusive things in sport that no-one can really explain.
“But when you get it right it feels great playing out there, it feels great amongst guys who are excited to make things happen.
“Hopefully as this tournament goes on we can bring more and more of it.”
The RFU have stamped on this particular Sunday morning story. https://t.co/ESxACMSVDB
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) February 9, 2020
England recovered from a surprise defeat to France in Paris by beating Scotland at Murrayfield to lift the Calcutta Cup.
Like team-mate Henderson, Ireland captain Johnny Sexton feels his team have a point to prove against the World Cup runners-up having suffered a “right old spanking” in each of last year’s meetings.
“It’s away from home and it’s against a team that were World Cup finalists and will be hurting (from the France defeat),” said the 34-year-old.
“(They are a) top-quality side and the last two times we’ve played England they’ve given us a right old spanking, so we need to up our game from those level of performances.
“It’s a tough place to go Twickenham and we haven’t had too many victories there over the years.
“It will certainly be no different now coming into this game.”
Watch: Andy Farrell and Johnny Sexton discuss Ireland’s defeat of Wales
Comments on RugbyPass
Jason Jenkins has one cap. When Etzebeth was his age he had over 80 caps. Experience matters. He will never amount to what Etzebeth has because he hasn’t been developed as an international player.
1 Go to commentsSays much about the player picking this gig over the easier and bigger rewards offered to him in Japan. Also says a lot about the state sanctioned tax benefits the Irish Revenue offers pro rugby players, with their ten highest earning years subject to an additional 40% tax relief and paid as a lump sum, in cash, at retirement. Certainly helps Leinster line up the financial ducks in a row to fund marquee signings like this!!! No other union anywhere in world rugby benefits from this kind of lucrative financial sponsorship from their government…
4 Go to commentsTrue Jordie could earn a lot more in Japan. But by choosing Leinster he’ll be playing with 1 of the best clubs in the world and can win a champions cup and URC…..
6 Go to commentsThanks for that Marshy, noticed you didn't say who is gonna win it. We know who ain't gonna win it - your Crusaders outfit. They've gone from having arguably the best Super Rugby first five ever, to having a clutch of rookies. Hurricanes all the way!
1 Go to commentsGeez you really have to question the NRLs ability to produce players of quality. Its pathetic. Dont the 25mil in Aus produce enough quality womens players. Sad.
1 Go to commentsBulls fan here, and agree 100% with the conclusion (and little else) of this article. SA sides should absolutely f-off from the champs cup until we get fair scheduling, equal support for travel arrangements and home semis. You know, like all the european teams get.
23 Go to commentsI’m yet to see why Grace would be an ABs contender. He’s pedestrian and lacks the dominance required of a top flight 8.
11 Go to commentsGee my Highlanders were terrible. They have gone backwards since the start of the season. The trouble began when we left Millar behind to prep as the 10 against the Brumbies and he was disconnected from the team that came back from Aussie. We rested Patchell for that game and we blew an avalanche of ball in good attacking positions in the 1st half. Against the Rebels we seem to of gone into a pod system with forwards hanging off from the breakdown leaving Fakatava to secure our ball!
80 Go to commentsPot Kettle, the English and French teams have done it for years.
23 Go to commentsHas virtually played every minute of previous games. Back row of Li Lo Willie , Grace and Blackadder would be the 1. Crusaders issue is a very average 1st 5 who cannot run. Kicking in general play is also below par They need to put Yong Kemara in. He must have so.e talent for them to bring him down from Waikato. Hoehepa would struggle to play in so.e club sided
11 Go to commentsI hope this a good thing making all these changes!
3 Go to commentsThe Hurricanes are good, especially with a decent coach now. However, let’s be real, the Crusaders and Chiefs are clearly a good degree weaker without the players they’ve lost overseas now. The Canes lost one player. It’s also why the aussie teams ‘seem’ to be stronger.
9 Go to commentsOr you could develop your own players instead of constantly taking from the SH competition and weakening it in the process? With all the player and financial resources these unions have compared to SH countries you’d think they could manage that, or is weakening the SH comps and their national sides an added bonus? Probably.
3 Go to commentsNot so fast Aaron, we might need you in black yet lol. God knows he’d be a lot less nerve-racking than hot and (very) cold players like Perofeta. It’s really a shame Reuben Love isn’t playing 10, we’ve got enough 15 options.
4 Go to commentsAnd those from the NH still seem to be puzzled (and delighted) why NZ’s depth isn’t what it once was. Over 600 NZ players overseas, that’s insane. This sort of deal is why Super Rugby coaches have admitted they struggle now to find enough quality to fill out their squads.
6 Go to commentsArticle intéressant ! La question devrait régulièrement se poser pour les jeunes français originaires de Nouvelle-Calédonie, Wallis-et-Futuna et de Polynésie entre la Nouvelle-Zélande et la Métropole… Difficile pour la fédération française de rugby de se positionner : soit le choix est fait de dénicher les jeunes talents et de les faire venir très tôt en Métropole, au risque de les déraciner, soit on prend le risque de se les faire “piller” par les All Blacks qui, telle une araignée, essaye de récupérer tous les talents des îles du Pacifique… À la France de se défendre en développant l’aura du XV de France et des clubs français dans ses collectivités d’Outre-mer !
3 Go to commentsWrong bay. He needs to come to the REAL BAY which is Bay Of Plenty and have a crack at making the Chiefs.
3 Go to commentsIs Barrett going play full back??? They already have all the centers…
16 Go to commentsForgive my ignorance, I might not fully understand so would appreciate clarification: Didn’t the Bulls have to fly with three different carriers, paid for by the South African Rugby Union, whilst Edinburgh got a chartered flight sponsored by EPCR? Also, as far as I understand it South African teams don’t yet share in the revenue from the competition and are not allowed to host Semi-finals or Finals at home. Surely if everyone wants South Africans to “take the competition seriously” then they must make South Africans feel welcome, allow them to share in the revenue, and give them the same levels of access as the teams from the other countries. Just a reminder that South Africa has a large and passionate Rugby audience. Just by virtue of our teams being a part of these competitions means that more of us are likely to watch the knockout games, even if our teams haven’t qualified. It would be silly to alienate such a large audience by making them feel unwelcome.
23 Go to commentsFirst of all. This guy is very much behind the curve. All the bleating, whingeing, whining and moaning took place days ago already. Not adding anything to the topic other than more bleating, whingeing, whining and moaning. 🍼 Second of all, not one mention of the fact that South African teams can’t get home semi finals or finals. The tournament was undermined and devalued by the administrators. 🤡 Thirdly, football teams often have to juggle selections in mid week games, premier games, champions league games etc. and will from time to time prioritize certain titles over others. 🐒 And lastly FEK Neil, and anyone else for that matter, for insisting on telling teams how to manage themselves. If they make what is largely a business decision that suits them and doesn’t suit you - tough shite. 💩 It’s not rocket science as to why the Bulls did what they did. If this guy is too slow to figure it out (and is deliberately not mentioning one of the key reasons why) then he isn’t a journalist. He should join the rest of us pundit plebs in comments section. 🥴
23 Go to comments