Paul O'Connell: England are in a different league to Ireland

Paul O'Connell: England are in a different league to Ireland

By The Telegraph

England made it two wins from two with a comfortable win over Ireland in the Autumn Nations Cup in a game which Eddie Jones had billed as his sides most important of 2020.

Joining Brian in the studio to reflect on wins for both England's men and women is Harlequins captain Rachael Burford.

Johnny May stole the headlines at Twickenham with a sensational try but it could have been avoided if Ireland were more accurate in the lineout. Former skipper Paul O'Connell joins the show to dissect what's gone wrong with the Irish set piece and expresses concern over the developing gap between the two sides since Ireland's Grand Slam win at Twickenham in 2018.

Elsewhere Wales finally stopped a run of defeats by beating Georgia 18-0. Wayne Pivac made 13 changes to his team and we speak with former Osprey's head coach Sean Holley about whether any of the new faces will feature this weekend against England and if anyone in Wales is giving them a chance against their great rivals.

England's women secured a 2-0 series win over France just days after being drawn in the same pool for the 2021 World Cup, we get Rachael's take on England's chances in New Zealand next year and also some of the stigma female rugby players face on social media.

And in a week where rugby was given £135 million by the government as part of a Covid bailout we speak to Steve Grainger, rugby development director at the RFU, about how the money will help the sport and how his role has changed in 2020 as a result of the pandemic.

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