Category: Rugby

• Nations Championship involves 25,000-mile itinerary

• England to split squad in July and leave a team to face Fiji

England have been handed a gruelling 25,000-mile travel itinerary for their inaugural Nations Championship fixtures in July and are expected to split their squad and field a weakened team against Fiji as a result.

As revealed exclusively by the Guardian, England’s match against Fiji – the week after facing South Africa in Johannesburg and the week before playing away in Argentina – will be staged at Everton’s new Dickinson Hill Stadium. Given the logistical problems that playing three matches in three continents in a fortnight entail, it is believed England will split their squad and leave a largely second-string side at home to face the Pacific Islanders.

• George Ford: ‘We want to get to root of the problems’

• Second straight loss destroyed championship hopes

George Ford has vowed that England will conduct a “properly honest” and “uncomfortable” review of their Six Nations humiliation against Ireland on Saturday.

The hosts collapsed spectacularly in the face of an Irish onslaught at Twickenham, falling 22-0 behind after half an hour, with Ford’s surprising inaccuracy at fly-half exemplifying an error-strewn team display. The Sale No 10 missed two kicks for touch which proved terminal to England’s hopes of applying pressure in the decisive early stages.

Ruthless Ireland scored a record-breaking 42 points at Twickenham to deepen Steve Borthwick’s woes

2 mins. The clearing kick from Ireland is returned by England with some carries up to the Irish 22. Ford floats a cross-kick to the right touchline where Steward claims it, but he’s quickly wrapped up by Lowe and two phases later a knock-on in midfield hands a scrum to the visitors.

First test for what has been a very creaky Irish scrum in the tournament so far.

Steve Borthwick needs a charge of electricity after the power cut in Scotland and team’s 21-year-old forward could fire up title challenge

The third weekend of the Six Nations 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 “go again”, putting their bodies on the line out on the pitch or, in the case of travelling supporters, in the pub.

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

• England captain reaches milestone against Ireland

• Itoje: ‘I know she would have loved the occasion’

Maro Itoje says his late mother will be at Twickenham in spirit when the England captain wins his 100th cap in the Six Nations showdown with Ireland on Saturday.

After Florence Itoje died in December, the Saracens second-row was absent from the start of England’s pre-tournament training camp in Girona to attend her funeral in Nigeria.

Captain’s moment must be celebrated at Twickenham on Saturday, as should Edwin Edogbo’s first Ireland cap

I was struck by Tommy Freeman’s comments this week when he said he had struggled mentally on the back of the British & Irish Lions tour to Australia last summer. It struck me because it was a very similar sentiment to that expressed by Maro Itoje earlier in the season, and it was a feeling with which I could sympathise. After the 2009 tour of South Africa, I was wrecked.

All but one of the England lads who went on that tour needed major surgery within a year of it finishing but, even if the body is holding up, you just don’t quite feel right. You’re back at your club, expected to be one of the best performers and don’t want to admit you’re tired, but sometimes you need someone to intervene and tell you to take a breather. There’s endless data these days but, for all that, mental fatigue can be hard to quantify and there can be no doubt that is something the Ireland squad is wrestling with at the moment.