{"id":436894,"date":"2026-02-20T23:10:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T23:10:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/436894\/"},"modified":"2026-02-20T23:10:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T23:10:08","slug":"england-bet-on-pollock-spark-against-ireland-to-reignite-six-nations-charge-six-nations-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/436894\/","title":{"rendered":"England bet on Pollock spark against Ireland to reignite Six Nations charge | Six Nations 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

The third weekend of the Six Nations<\/a> used to be a time for contemplation and reflection. After the fury of the first two rounds, everything would stop for a much-needed fallow week in which to restore energy levels. And now? The battle-scarred gladiators are about to \u201cgo again\u201d, putting their bodies on the line out on the pitch or, in the case of travelling supporters, in the pub.<\/p>\n

Player welfare rules OK? That debate still rumbles on but certain other areas \u2013 fitness, mental resilience, squad depth \u2013 traditionally reserved for the tournament\u2019s closing fortnight are increasingly front and centre. The rhythm of this year\u2019s championship is subtly different, particularly for sides such as England with only two home fixtures. Slip up for a second successive Saturday and that\u2019s it, folks, until November in terms of high-profile Twickenham opportunities.<\/p>\n

The Six Nations title will also disappear down the swollen River Thames for another year unless England can restore some equilibrium in the wake of their Murrayfield jolt<\/a>. Another defeat, by an Ireland side who have been looking about as vibrant and fresh as an old episode of Mrs Brown\u2019s Boys, would unquestionably be a backward step, regardless of the potential that Steve Borthwick\u2019s squad clearly possess.<\/p>\n

That may also have underpinned Andy Farrell\u2019s experience-heavy visiting team selection. Back into the starting lineup come a veritable Mount Rushmore of familiar thirtysomethings \u2013 Josh van der Flier, Tadhg Beirne, Tadhg Furlong, Jamison Gibson-Park \u2013 all capable of jamming an old-school spanner into the sweet chariot\u2019s wheels. For this big stadium gig, Farrell has essentially reunited the Irish oval-ball equivalent of U2 and challenged Bono, the Edge and co to rattle and hum one more time.<\/p>\n

Admittedly it\u2019s not quite up there with the famous recall of Tony O\u2019Reilly, aged 33, for this same fixture in 1970 after a seven-year international career break. O\u2019Reilly wasn\u2019t in the greatest shape, as his captain, Willie John McBride, wryly observed when the wing admitted he was nervous about facing his lightning-quick English counterpart, Keith Fielding. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t worry too much,\u201d said McBride. \u201cBy the time he runs around you he\u2019s going to be bloody tired.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joking aside, Farrell could do with a statement performance from his leading men every bit as much as Borthwick clearly does. Round three is still \u201cmoving day\u201d in terms of the championship leaderboard and, with a run-in comprising successive home games against Wales and Scotland, the moment of truth for Ireland has arrived. Yes, they were blown away in the rain<\/a> in Paris and were a touch fortunate to escape the clutches of Italy\u2019s scrum<\/a> but, equally, they have not morphed into no-hopers overnight.<\/p>\n

England must regroup and restore some equilibrium after their disappointment in Scotland last weekend. Photograph: Jamie Johnston\/Focus Images Ltd\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n

Ireland have also won four of their past five Six Nations meetings with England, the exception being two years ago when Marcus Smith\u2019s late, late drop goal edged the hosts home<\/a> 23-22. There is an entire PhD thesis to be written on the reasons why Smith\u2019s international career has not kicked on since that compelling contest but, as it happens, Ireland have also not been the same force since the summer of 2024.<\/p>\n

Which is what makes this weekend so fascinating. What further motivation could Ireland\u2019s old stagers need than to stand in the tunnel alongside the young English pretender to their slowly slipping crown? Henry Pollock is making his first Test start on Saturday and it is only a tiny exaggeration to suggest that if the 21-year-old goes well against Ireland\u2019s more seasoned back row then England will be three-quarters of the way to the winners\u2019 enclosure.<\/p>\n

While Farrell rated the Northampton tyro highly enough to take him on the British & Irish Lions tour last summer, he ended up preferring Conan and Beirne in his Test XV when push came to shove. Since then, though, even legendary old Lions such as Keith Wood have been re-evaluating the blond-haired, black-headbanded future and wondering if their initial perceptions may need updating. \u201cI looked at him at the start and I said: \u2018My God, he\u2019s a pain in the arse,\u2019\u201d the former Ireland captain said this week.<\/p>\n

\u201cI look at him now and I think: \u2018My God, he\u2019s a pain in the arse but he is box office.\u2019 And for somebody who many people say hasn\u2019t done a huge amount, he has done extraordinary things. I want players of that calibre on the rugby field. I want to see the personality. You don\u2019t have to like every single part of it. But he is a nuisance and a thorn in the side of the opposition. I\u2019d say he\u2019s even driving his own teammates batty half the time \u2013 but he is electric.\u201d<\/p>\n

A surge of electricity is unquestionably what England need after their sluggish, error-strewn loss in Edinburgh. If their previous 12-game winning run did breed a hint of complacency, that has now vanished. Borthwick is backing several of his players to respond immediately and the return of Ollie Lawrence and redeployment of Tommy Freeman on the wing should add to their attacking options.<\/p>\n

There is also the small matter of Maro Itoje\u2019s 100th Test appearance<\/a> for England, which he will hope proves more fulfilling than his 99th. Perhaps the biggest compliment to pay the 31-year-old is to stop for a moment and imagine where England \u2013 and the Lions \u2013 would have been without him at the heart of their pack over the past decade. With any luck there will be plenty more caps to come.<\/p>\n

England need a surge of electricity after their error-strewn loss at Murrayfield. Photograph: Tim Williams\/Action Plus\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n

In the shorter term, though, the captain will be hoping to extend England\u2019s nine-match winning run at home, stretching back to a 29-20 defeat by South Africa<\/a> 15 months ago. Ireland have ended such sequences before, not least in 2018 when England had been unbeaten at Twickenham for more than two years under Eddie Jones.<\/p>\n

This season, though, England\u2019s share price has been rising, notwithstanding last week\u2019s market correction. Scrum-wise they will fancy gaining parity at the very least and, with some dampness in the air, their tactical kicking and chasing game should pose a few more problems if Henry Arundell remains on the field for slightly longer this time.<\/p>\n

They can also dig deep in the knowledge that next week, finally, offers some brief respite before the championship\u2019s back-to-back concluding rounds in March. Ireland have the knowhow to be spoilsports, with Stuart McCloskey\u2019s midfield offloading ability and Robert Baloucoune\u2019s footwork also potential threats, but if England do not win this weekend\u2019s generation game, even by the tightest of margins, they will be seriously disappointed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The third weekend of the Six Nations used to be a time for contemplation and reflection. After the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":436895,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[5903,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-436894","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-rugby","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436894","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=436894"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436894\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/436895"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=436894"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=436894"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=436894"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}