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England are 'rightly favourites for the tournament' - Foden
By Christopher Devine
Ben Foden believes England can claim another Six Nations Grand Slam by gaining revenge over Ireland in the final round of this year's championship.
Eddie Jones' side began their quest for a third successive Six Nations title with a 46-15 victory over Italy in Rome on Sunday.
Sterner examinations await the defending champions, whose only Test defeat to date under Jones came in Dublin last March as Ireland denied them a repeat of the perfect campaign they enjoyed in 2016.
England will again face Joe Schmidt's men in the final round next month, this time on home soil at Twickenham, and versatile Northampton Saints back Foden - capped in 34 Tests between 2009 and 2013 - expects the Red Rose to prevail.
"I think England have definitely got the best shot at a Grand Slam," Foden told Omnisport following the win over Italy.
"Going to Scotland and France will not be easy, but I would fancy this England side to have enough to win on both of those trips and I would always back them at home.
"It may well come down to that Ireland game on the last weekend and I believe, at home, England will come out on top."
Before then, England's immediate concern is this weekend's visit of Wales to Twickenham.
Warren Gatland's side produced the standout showing of the opening round to trounce Scotland 34-7 in Cardiff, but Foden said: "England have to be very confident of winning at home."
He added: "It was a very exciting and polished performance from Wales [against Scotland]. They had some new guys in there who stepped up and Warren Gatland will have some decisions to make when injured players return.
"It will be a mouthwatering affair played in a great atmosphere at Twickenham. I would expect England to come out firing and to be very strong at home. They are so well-drilled under Eddie Jones, whoever is in the side, and rightly favourites to win the tournament."
- England Rugby star Ben Foden enjoyed a pint of Greene King IPA with England Rugby fans at a Six Nations screening in London. Follow @GreeneKingIPA #SupportersSupporter for more information.
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Skelton may be brought back for the Wallabies so that would be the only reason that may hinder Wilson. Easily the form, most skilful and game IQ of any Oz 8. Valentini’s best and favourite position is 6, but lineouts may be an issue with Skelton, Valentini and Wilson. Will be interesting what Schmidt goes for but for me Wilson should be picked on form. Schmidt rewards work rate, skill and consistency. All that glitters every so often won’t be in contention. Greely is one of those players that has a knack of making the right decision. A coach is going to love him because he knows week in week out he’s going to get the job done. The second try Greely wasn’t the guy who made the initial break it was Flook, Greely was at the bottom of the ruck when Flook was off along the sideline. Greely got up and made the effort to catch up with play but also read the play nicely and hit the pass from Campbell at pace and then held the pass beautifully to Ryan.
Go to commentsSharks deserved to be far further back by the last quarter. Their tackling was awful, their set pieces were disappointing, their defensive organization was poor (especially on the Kok side of the D line), they kept making unnecessary errors, and they never looked like cracking the Clermont defense during those first 60m. Masuku kept them in touch, with some help from the Clermont generosity on penalty opportunities. Agree with the writer of this article. It was belligerence, and ability to raise their pressure game just enough, that turned the last quarter into a Bok-style shutout. Clermont have a reputation of not playing the full 80m, and there was a bit of that for sure. But, quite often when the intensity of a team drops off in the last quarter credit is due to the opponent for tiring them out. At 60m, with the Kok try, you thought that just maybe the game was on. At 70m, with the Mapimpi contribution, one felt that Clermont were fading, while facing a team that would maintain the pressure game through the final whistle. Good win in the end, but the Sharks are still playing way below their potential. And with their resources, and a coach that has had enough time to figure things out, they are running out of excuses.
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