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Irish Idol Sings Danny Boy's Praises

Thu 13 Mar, 09:10 AM


Ireland number eight Jamie Heaslip believes Danny Cipriani's raw talent counters his lack of experience.

Wasps sensation Cipriani, back in the frame after being axed by England last week for disciplinary reasons, has been installed at fly-half for Saturday's Six Nations clash at Twickenham.

It will be the 20-year-old's first start for England but Heaslip is expecting him to make a telling impact - despite his rookie status.

"Danny is very fast and plays at the line so we will have to pay him respect," he said.

"I played against him for Leinster last season and he caused us a lot of trouble. Despite being so quick, he's also strong with the ball.

"There is nothing to exploit there. He is a different player to Jonny Wilkinson and we'll have to look at what he will bring to the team."

Wilkinson, the darling of English rugby, made way to accommodate Cipriani's elevation to the starting line-up.

The former England captain endured a wretched time in the weekend's 15-9 defeat to Scotland and paid the price by being dropped for a Test the first time in since 1999.

Heaslip said: "If a player is good enough to be selected then fair play - and Danny is obviously good enough.

"Jonny has done great service to England but if the coach feels he wants to pick Cipriani, who has been playing well, he must be up to it."

England's need to atone for an horrendous display in the penultimate round of Six Nations action is shared by Ireland.

A 16-12 defeat to Wales, which should have looked far more convincing on the scoreboard, has left yet more scarring on the Irish psyche.

Ireland were expected to control the match up front but instead came off second best to Wales' pack, particularly in the back row where Ryan Jones was rampant.

But Heaslip, who will be winning his eighth cap on Saturday, is unconcerned by the forwards' troubles against Wales.

"I thought the pack went fine last time out. It's just that against Wales we didn't get enough of the ball," he said.

"The reason Wales got the upper hand in the back row was because they got more ball, particularly in open spaces.

"Ryan was causing a bit of trouble for us out wide because he's a big man who was getting into spaces. He's hard to take down and did well.

"But we've got nothing to worry about. We've been playing well so far and we just need to build on that against England.

"We'll try and match England up front and then try to dominate them, which is hard against a pack as good as that.

"Usually, the strength of English rugby lies in their pack."

Teams:

England: I Balshaw (Gloucester); P Sackey (Wasps), J Noon (Newcastle), T Flood (Newcastle), L Vainikolo (Gloucester); D Cipriani (Wasps), R Wigglesworth (Sale Sharks); A Sheridan (Sale Sharks), L Mears (Bath), P Vickery (Wasps. capt), S Shaw (Wasps), S Borthwick (Bath), T Croft (Leicester), M Lipman (Bath), N Easter (Harlequins).

Replacements: G Chuter (Leicester), M Stevens (Bath), B Kay (Leicester), J Haskell (Wasps), P Hodgson (London Irish), J Wilkinson (Newcastle), M Tait (Newcastle).

Ireland: G Murphy (Leicester); T Bowe (Ulster), A Trimble (Ulster), S Horgan (Leinster), R Kearney (Leinster); R O'Gara (Munster, captain), E Reddan (Wasps); M Horan (Munster), R Best (Ulster), J Hayes (Munster), D O'Callaghan (Munster), P O'Connell (Munster), D Leamy (Munster), D Wallace (Munster), J Heaslip (Leinster).

Replacements: B Jackman (Leinster), T Buckley (Munster), M O'Driscoll (Munster), S Easterby (Llanelli), P Stringer (Munster), P Wallace (Ulster), L Fitzgerald (Leinster).

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