England head into the final round of the Six Nations with no shot at winning the title for only the second time under Eddie Jones but Ben Youngs has said there will be no letup against Ireland in Dublin on Saturday.
Youngs believes England have set a new attacking benchmark with their resurgent victory over France and another swashbuckling showing against Ireland would mean Jones’s side end a tournament which began so disappointingly on an optimistic note.
Ireland sit second in the table but similarly cannot win the title and on Monday were dealt a considerable blow following confirmation that James Ryan and Garry Ringrose will be unavailable following respective head and ankle injuries sustained against Scotland.
Despite victory in Edinburgh, Andy Farrell is under increasing pressure to claim a major scalp as Ireland head coach but for Youngs, the chance to follow up the eye-catching performance against France will ensure England are not short of motivation. “It’s disappointing [there is no title shot],” he said. “We didn’t hit the straps that we should have done at the start of the tournament. It’s been and gone now, there’s not a lot we can do about that. What is pleasing is that we showed what we’re about. We’ve got an opportunity to do it again.
“We’d love to be going to Dublin with something to win but we’ll still be there, fully committed and trying to build on what we did [against France]. It wasn’t a case of rewriting the script. We’ve been trying to attack like this since the autumn. It’s taken a long while for some of it to come through. I’m really pleased we’re starting to see some of that training-pitch work coming to fruition in games.”
Asked if England have now set the benchmark, he said: “Yeah, depending on [the conditions]. But yes, absolutely. It is a really good blueprint of not far off what we want it to look like, more consistently.”
While England and Ireland are out of title contention on Saturday, Wales head to Paris seeking a first grand slam under Wayne Pivac. But France have championship aspirations of their own. Indeed, a bonus-point win over Wales and a bumper win over Scotland would see France crowned champions, provided Pivac’s side do not claim two bonus points themselves on Saturday. Six Nations organisers have still not confirmed that France’s match against Scotland will take place on 26 March but on Monday reiterated it remains their preferred date.
Wales have never failed to convert a grand slam from this position in the Six Nations era but on the four occasions they have been successful, their final match of the tournament has been in Cardiff. “It’s a slightly different challenge to the ones most of us have experienced before when we’ve been at Cardiff and had a real electric energy from the crowd,” said the Wales hooker Ken Owens. “[No crowd] may take away the home advantage slightly but it’s still going to be a tough game. I’m expecting exactly the same from France. They still have title ambitions of their own.”
