Ahead of a three-way showdown this weekend, the former England coach selects an XV of the best of the best so far
So, how are you feeling about tomorrow? Nervous? Excited? Terrified? All three? We know how you feel. With a calculator in one hand and a set of worry beads in the other we have a very long day ahead of us as Wales, Ireland and England battle it out for the Six Nations crown.
Every time we think about it, we change our mind on how it will go but if Clive Woodward’s team of the contenders is anything to go by, we have it in the bag.
The former England coach has picked a team of the championship from the three contenders in the Mail and he has selected a massive seven Irish players.
Woodward is clearly a huge fan of Johnny Sexton as he calls him ‘the world’s No 1 fly-half’ and he combines him with Conor Murray while Robbie Henshaw gets one of the centre slots.
The pack is half Irish, as Woodward goes for Mike Ross, Paul O’Connell, Sean O’Brien and Jamie Heaslip.
Wales have just three representatives (Gethin Jenkins, Sam Wartburton (who is captain) and Leigh Halfpenny) while England’s Dylan Hartley, Courtney Lawes, Jack Nowell, Jonathan Joseph and Anthony Watson make up the rest of Woodward’s XV.
While the team may differ a bit from the one we’d pick ourselves we are taking the presence of so many Irish players as a sign that tomorrow will turn out to be one we look back on with joy, rather than despair.
