NewsBreakingOnline

England need a centre who can run straight; Ireland backs on different wavelengths; Ruaridh Jackson is Scots’ best fly-half England must sharpen up for slam England will struggle to nail down their grand slam in Dublin unless their game is a lot more precise than it was this weekend. Their centre partnership continues to stutter, although Shontayne Hape did some good things against Scotland. He is tremendously strong in the tackle, has soft hands and offloads well but England need a centre who can run straight. There is not a lot wrong with England’s pack, although it must be a worry for Martin Johnson that, for all their possession in the first half, it was Scotland who competed best at the breakdown and Ireland will have sensed that they can disrupt England in this area. The English scrum are a lot better than Ireland’s and they do have replacements who can make an instant impact. Matt Banahan was particularly impressive and Jonny Wilkinson added some precision. Martin Johnson will consider starting with Tom Croft in Dublin but that will be hard on Tom Wood. Ian Malin Ruaridh Jackson should be Scotland’s fly-half against Italy Scotland need a try-scoring victory to rescue a bleak Six Nations and the young fly-half showed he can control the game if Scotland are on the front foot, which they can be at Murrayfield this weekend. The Scotland pack may struggle at the scrum but they have improved in this area since their set piece was obliterated in Paris. They will miss the physicality of Kelly Brown but Richie Vernon impressed as a second-half replacement. Mike Blair may also add extra pep with Rory Lawson subdued at Twickenham. What the Scots do not want is a dogfight against an Italian side who will be pumped up after their historic win over France. IM Marc Lièvremont is losing his grip Marc Lièvremont went through the ritual of saying he would not resign following his team’s first defeat by Italy on Saturday but the next six months are going to be rough for the France coach, especially if his side go down at home to Wales on Saturday. His team look dispirited and he appears to be hardly the man to lift them – at least judging by his body language and words. “They are lacking in courage. They are good guys but cursed with what is obviously cowardice,” he said. “This match was an hallucination. I do not want to clear myself from the blame but they invented things on the pitch.” After repeated admissions during the week that England were currently top dogs, the French press will like his latest observations even less. Mike Averis Nick Mallett needs a win at Murrayfield Nick Mallett has quite the opposite task. After beating France by a point, he has to get another performance out of his Azzurri next Saturday – a victory would be only their second away from home in the Six Nations – or he might be looking for work after the World Cup. There are suggestions that Jacques Brunel, manager at Perpignan, already has his feet under the table in Rome, although the Italian federation says it still has to talk to Mallett. A win at Murrayfield would go a long way to wiping out his employer’s memories of the eight-try drubbing by England and also Mallett’s record of only six wins from 35 since taking over from Pierre Berbizier. But remember, Berbizier ended his time with the Azzurri by winning at Murrayfield in 2007 when the Scots were generous enough to donate three tries on a plate within the first six minutes. MA Ireland’s work in progress stalled in Cardiff Peter Allan’s gaffe gave Ireland something to hide behind. That is not to suggest that Declan Kidney’s side should not have been incensed but put aside “ball-gate” briefly and consider that for the second time in this tournament Ireland lost a game which they should have won. Wales tackled well but Ireland eschewed at least two opportunities to score that they should have gobbled up. The dilemma over which fly-half best fits their game plan is a side issue compared with the moments when Kidney must have wanted to put his head in his hands at the daft mistakes in this tournament that have ruined his expansive plans. At the Millennium Stadium Brian O’Driscoll and Luke Fitzgerald were on different wavelengths in the first half but Paddy Wallace ignoring the outside man in the final minutes had to be the second most galling aspect of the evening for Kidney. Still defeat should make next weekend’s game against England in Dublin even spicier. Ireland simply cannot afford to lose three games, two at home, in the Six Nations with the World Cup in September. Claire Tolley The Welsh forwards can be more eye-catching than the backs To a certain extent, the forwards – Alun Wyn Jones and Ryan Jones to the fore – were more visible on Saturday because of the type of game the home side chose to play. Wales had already decided they wanted to kick for territory and pin Ireland back, making it odd that James Hook was preferred to Stephen Jones; and, coupled with often slow ruck ball (Mike Phillips might have benefited at times from taking a spade out after half-time), it meant the backs were denied a platform on which to dazzle. Shane Williams came inside looking for work but, a few cameos apart, a lot of Welsh possession was drilled up the middle through Jamie Roberts or the forwards and disappeared into Ireland’s solid midfield defence. Still, all of that conspired to make more work for the pack, with the Joneses and Bradley Davies popping up around the park to provide some momentum in attack and putting in their tackles in a fairly impressive defensive effort from Warren Gatland’s side. CT Six Nations England rugby union team Scotland rugby union team Marc Lièvremont France rugby union team Nick Mallett Italy rugby union team Ireland rugby union team Wales rugby union team Rugby union Ian Malin Mike Averis guardian.co.uk