Given the extent of their injury list, and the filleting they were given by South Africa in November, Ireland's scrum was under the spotlight coming into this Guinness Six Nations. Despite fears it would be their undoing against France in Paris, the setpiece was a non-factor in the 36-14 defeat, but those concerns have returned after a chastening experience for the front row against the Italians on Saturday. In total, Ireland gave up five penalties to the Italian scrum in their 20-13 win. This weekend’s opponents England, will offer an even tougher examination, having won five penalties of their own in their defeat to Scotland. Simone Farrari, Giacomo Nicotera and Danilo Fischetti utterly...
