Playing For Third Place?

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Who would have expected to see England playing Ireland at Twickenham knowing they are both playing for 3rd place on the table. Scotland play Wales later today which should see Scotland cement 2nd place even though they still have to play Ireland and Wales having lost to Italy in the opening round.

The 3 teams being Ireland, Scotland and England seem to be of a similar standard with either team able to beat each other on the day. The French are a good 10 points better than these three teams, but saying that they could lose to Italy tomorrow. The Italians are the ones who are going to change how the table looks as I feel England who play in Rome for their last game of the Six Nations are ripe for the picking.

The funny thing is every team will raise their game to play England as losing to the England team is that much harder to accept. The press build them up so much and place a massive target on the England team backs which comes across as arrogant. If you lose to Scotland or Ireland it does not seem so bad and the big one is England. Teams actually see this as an insult (Southern Hemisphere) losing to England and shows you how they are rated which is not that highly.

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With the World Cup 2 years away you have to be winning the games now and building. England were full of themselves having been on a 12 match winning streak thinking they were already performing to the levels required. Other teams are also rebuilding and trying out various combinations.

If the wheels come off during this Six Nations for any of these teams then coming back and preparing for the World Cup which will be 18 months away would be a huge setback. This is all about building your squad strength and not thinking you are already world champions because this will bite you hard.

England like they do in all sports are already thinking of the final round in Paris to win the title and they have taken their eye off what is important and that is doing the basics. England can be humbled by the Italians which would see the entire England team under pressure with the coach being questioned if he is the right person. I am no England fan but have always questioned Borthwick's credentials as a coach and do not rate him.

I just switched on todays match and the score is not a huge shock with England being humbled by 29 points to 7. This will not be the final score and will most likely finish very close with an Irish win. This will leave England close to the bottom of the table and their Six Nations campaign in tatters. This is where arrogance gets you and the players not remaining humble and this is all about attitude and staying grounded. The Ireland team were expected to raise their game for this particular match even if they are not that strong these days.

In June England play South Africa in South Africa and I can tell you the score will be high as the SA team will lay down a marker.