Six Nations 2024: How do England beat ‘best team in the world’ Ireland?

After three emphatic wins, Ireland arrive at Twickenham on Saturday as overwhelming favourites to beat England.

England return to their London base striving for greater cohesion in defence and attack after a disappointing defeat by Scotland.

Twickenham will expect Steve Borthwick’s men to compete at the very least, but how do they beat a side that has won a record-equalling 11 Six Nations games in a row?

The Feyi-Waboso X-factor?

England are yet to light the touch paper in this Six Nations, which began with victories over Italy and Wales before defeat in Edinburgh ended their unbeaten start.

They have been criticised for not showing enough cutting edge in attack and have been questioned about the overuse of data in orchestrating their tactics.

England have dismissed that claim, and perhaps handing a first start to Immanuel Feyi-Waboso on the wing is an indication of a more fluid plan to attack Ireland.

The 21-year-old impressed off the bench against Scotland and opened his international account with an eye-catching try close to the breakdown.

Head coach Borthwick is keen for more ingenuity from his exciting young wing.

“After I told him he was starting, he was very grateful and thanked me numerous times,” said Borthwick. “Then he asked me ‘what do you want from me?’

“I said ‘find the ball and get it in your hands’. There are some nuances, but the message was ‘I want you to get the ball in your hands as many times as possible’.”

Feyi-Waboso is one of three changes to the side, with Alex Mitchell returning from injury to reclaim the number nine jersey and George Martin’s selection in the second row a nod to the physicality England will need.

Martin’s ball-carrying power will provide England with the opportunity to punch holes in the green wall and cross the gainline to free up space for the likes of Feyi-Waboso.

Ireland’s narrow World Cup quarter-final defeat by New Zealand ended a 17-game winning run, but it appears to have been quickly erased from memory.

Borthwick is not alone in believing that Ireland are a better side on current form than world champions South Africa, who are officially ranked number one.

“Let’s be clear on Ireland – right now we can all agree they are the best team in the world,” said Borthwick.

‘Twickenham is ready to revolt’, so start well

Borthwick said the performance against Scotland was the first time since he took charge of England that he had seen “the shirt weigh heavy” on his players.

The worry for Borthwick is how that pressure could intensify further.

It is rare for England to play at home without being favourites. With the odds seemingly stacked in the visitors’ favour, former Ireland wing Shane Horgan says Twickenham could “revolt” if the game begins to escape England.

“The expectation is for England to win every game,” Horgan told BBC Radio 5 Live.

“I don’t think it sits well with an England team to put themselves in the position of underdogs because that is when the pressure comes on.

“Twickenham will be ready to revolt this weekend and that is the big danger because we have seen the damage that can do to an England side.

“If things go well, they will be behind them but if things start to go wrong early or at any stage there can be a lot of anger and resentment.”

But England captain Jamie George believes playing at Twickenham will motivate his team.

“We believe that we’re going to win,” he said. “We don’t want anyone, any opposition, to come to Twickenham and have an easy ride.

“We have respect for them. I can’t emphasise enough how much respect we have for Andy Farrell and Peter O’Mahony’s team. They’ve got brilliant players across the board.

“But this is England. This is Twickenham. This is home. And we’re going to defend our home, like every Englishman would.”

‘England’s error count has to be next to zero’

England challenged Ireland in their meeting in Dublin last season with their discipline in defence and low error count, before Freddie Steward’s controversial red card swung momentum in the hosts’ favour as the Grand Slam was duly delivered.

Former England scrum-half Matt Dawson says the men in white can draw inspiration from their performance in Dublin.

“I would like to see England come out of the dressing room with an icy, cool death stare of concentration and do something on the pitch that just upsets Ireland,” Dawson told BBC Radio 5 Live.

“A bit like they did last year at the Aviva where Ireland started to doubt themselves for 10 to 15 minutes.

“Steward then got sent off but by their own admission, Ireland were disjointed and did not produce their best performance because they were slightly rattled.

“England have to get to that stage very quickly. If they are to have any chance, their error count has to be next to zero.

“You can put that to any facet of the game, whether it be in the set-piece, in the ruck or with their discipline – it needs to be next to zero.

“This Ireland side thrive on not just set-piece but also broken-field opportunity and England cannot afford to give them that.”