It's hard to believe that this time two years ago, as they flew across to England on a Grand Slam mission, Ireland were 12-point favourites to win in Twickenham. Twelve points. Even taking into account the fact that Andy Farrell's reigning champions had come into the fixture on a four-game winning run over their hosts, had trounced France in Marseille three weeks earlier, and were on an 11-match hot streak in the Six Nations, it's a gobsmacking number. We do tend to get ahead of ourselves. Prior to that round-four clash in 2024, England, under head coach Steve Borthwick, were a train spluttering out of the station, scraping past Italy and Wales and losing to Scotland, while Ireland were full...
