England will do everything to dismantle Irish attack

England are going into their Guinness Six Nations showdown with Ireland this weekend as, somewhat surprisingly, the underdogs.

Owen Farrell, Manu Tuilagi, Luke Cowan-Dickie and Jonny Hill are all unavailable, adding to the doubt around their squad depth.

Alex Dombrandt had a reduced training week due to illness, but England are at least bolstered by the return of back-row Sam Underhill. Underhill hasn't had a lot of game time since his recent spell of concussion and illness, however his selection in the squad could be a warning sign for Ireland’s attacking game this weekend.

As underdogs, England and Eddie Jones are a massive threat to Ireland. All the talk has been about Ireland’s attacking game and how much trouble they’re going to cause England.

Jones will have to lay out a game plan to disrupt the Irish momentum - and he’s no stranger to doing just that.

In 2019, England put extra pressure on Johnny Sexton to pass the ball early. They sent a shooter out of defence to pressure Sexton and the Irish game plan stuttered as a result. England also used a kicking strategy to force Ireland to play in areas of the pitch where they couldn’t launch their attack.

This time around, I believe that the breakdown will be the key focus area for Jones.

Ireland have been playing with quick ruck ball due to their variation in the attacking game and their set-up allows them to have instant contacts at the breakdown.

Jamison Gibson-Park [above left] is very fast to arrive at the ruck. He’s also able to pick the ball to challenge the inside defenders without disrupting his distribution to Ireland’s forwards or Sexton as first receiver.

If England are going to limit the Irish attack, they need to make that ball messy for Gibson-Park, which will have