England v Ireland – Saturday, August 24th
The Rugby World Cup is right around the corner. There is going to be another big test for England. The Red Rose have taken a win and a loss against Wales in their preparations so far and now will get a big challenge from Ireland. Will England be able to shine again at Twickenham or will the Irish put a spanner in their preparation work for the World Cup?
England v Ireland Odds*
England 8/15
Ireland 15/8
Draw 20/1
* (betting odds taken from bet365 on August 20th, 2019 at 4:55 pm)
Can England take another home win?
England opened their warm-ups with a game against Wales at Twickenham. It was a convincing display that they put in as well to take the win. But then Eddie Jones watched the English take a defeat in Cardiff last weekend as they faced up to the Dragons again. It will be a loss that raises questions about England’s ability to go and win a tough game outside the comforts of Twickenham.
The good news for England is that prop Mako Vunipola is set to make a start. That’s a huge thing for England. He looked to be in danger of missing out on the World Cup because of injury. Vunipola had torn a hamstring back in May. It is the kind of front-row experience that England needs. Jones did experiment with his starting lineup in Wales last weekend. However he is likely to field something close to a strongest starting fifteen.
Can Ireland raid Twickenham?
It has been a quieter warm-up campaign by Ireland so far. Joel Schmidt sent out an experimental side against Italy a couple of weekends ago and the Irish cruised to a win. Ireland have based themselves out in the Algarve to get themselves acclimated a bit ahead of their trip to Japan for the 2019 Rugby World Cup. Earlier this year Ireland finished third in the Six Nations table, losing their opening game of the tournament 20-32 in Dublin. Their other loss came in their final match of the campaign against the Welsh.
Predictions
England are likely to go full force at this after switching things up for their trip to Cardiff. This is their final series test before heading to the World Cup and they have been involved in tougher action than what the Irish have been.
England have one more warm-up match against Italy in Newcastle, so this is probably the one where the players know that they can push for a place in the starting line up at the World Cup. England -5 handicap at 5/6 odds* (betting odds taken from bet365 on August 20th, 2019 at 4:55 pm)
