The Irish midfield will be severely tested, once again, this weekend.
Six journalists – one Irish and five English – were asked for their Six Nations mid-term report during a break in interviews at England’s training base at Pennyhill Park.
Only one, Alex Spink of the Daily Mirror, predicted an Irish win while Chris Foy and Robert Kitson [Daily Mail and Guardian] praised Ireland’s winning streak of nine games and “clever” Joe Schmidt.
Chris of the Evening Standard was complimentary about Ireland, whom he described as very, very dangerous. However, Jones believes he has spotted a flaw in the current team.
He says, ‘I do fear you miss the midfield threat you had with Brian O’Driscoll and Gordon D’Arcy. Unless you are going to put Brian in a wheelchair, you’ve got to change him at some point.
‘The guys they have brought in [Robbie Henshaw and Jared Payne] are rather limited. They are going to get exposed by England.’
Up front, Jones feels, Ireland are as horrible to play against as ever.
