Ireland head to Twickenham on Sunday February 23rd with a spring in their step, following last weekend's 24-14 win over Wales in Dublin. And in his column this morning, Gerry Thornley has suggested two straight Six Nations victories have gone a long way towards helping banish the demons of 2019 - particularly with the Grand Slam champions comprehensively beaten at the Aviva Stadium. He writes: "It wasn't just the win, it was the manner of it. Despite the events of 2019, Ireland played with a freedom, ambition and confidence which never wavered, and that was an achievement in itself . . . there was a heightened willingness to probe for space out wide and to offload, with the backs actually having more carries than the forwards. Players such as CJ Stander and Robbie Henshaw looked almost re-invented." If Ireland can beat England at Twickenham it would see them win the Triple Crown and leave them in the driving seat to claim the title, with the visit of Italy and a trip to Paris to follow. And Leinster coach Stuart Lancaster believes Andy Farrell's side are capable of upsetting the odds in London: "I think Ireland can win, I do think that, because of the quality of players they've got," he said.
Meanwhile Andrew Conway, who was one of Ireland's standout players during the win over Wales, has urged for calm heads and a bit of perspective before the trip to play Eddie Jones's men: "We are probably going to be the best team in the world for a week or two until we play England, and the outcome of that will decide what's written about us after that. It's trying to remain somewhere in the middle and realise we are on the right path, a good path, got new guys in, and we have to keep looking forward and work hard." Farrell has released 13 players back to their provinces ahead of the return of the Pro14 at the weekend, retaining a 23-man squad for a two-day training camp in Cork.
Elsewhere the weights for the 2020 Aintree Grand National are revealed today, with connections of Tiger Roll holding their breath ahead of his potential bid for a historic third win in the race. Tiger Roll is a 5-1 antepost favourite to complete an unprecedented hat-trick in April but owner Michael O'Leary has threatened to withdraw the 10-year-old if he isn't happy with the weight allotted to him by the BHA handicapper Martin Greenwood. Tiger Roll is set to make his comeback from injury in the Boyne Hurdle at Navan on Sunday, and trainer Gordon Elliott has issued a positive update on his stable superstar: "I'd suppose fitness is the one worry from Navan. We know ourselves there's a lot of improvement to come. Cheltenham - obviously the race looks made for him with a rating like he has. Then to go back and have another whack at the English Grand National will be second to none. Win lose or draw just the hype of getting him back there for the day will be something else so it's one we're really looking forward to."
Republic of Ireland boss Mick McCarthy is confident his side can reach Euro 2020 - providing they win their play-off semi-final away to Slovakia. And he says a trip to face Northern Ireland at Windsor Park holds no fear should they win in Bratislava: "If we win the first one, I think we'll win the second one, we'll get momentum and we'll win the second one. . . I'm not going to be intimidated going to Windsor Park to be quite honest and I don't think the players are going to be."
And Rory McIlroy has returned to the top of the world rankings for the first time since September 2015, without having to swing a club. As Philip Reid writes: "The weighted system is such that weeks off can sometimes be as important as those weeks with clubs in hand; and the Northern Irishman's return to world number one is just reward for his consistency over the past year: four wins among 20 top-20 finishes." McIlroy has now spent a total of 96 weeks at world number one - the fourth-highest in history behind Nick Faldo, Greg Norman and Tiger Woods.
