Six Nations championship badly needs upset

LONDON (Reuters) -- Somebody wearing a green or red jersey will need to create something exceptional this weekend to rescue an uninspired Six Nations championship.

After two rounds, world champions England and France appear headed inexorably for a grand slam finale in Paris on March 27 without being seriously extended.

The old European adversaries are the only unbeaten sides in a championship reflecting the current division in world rugby between the elite and the rest.

On Saturday, England, unbeaten at Twickenham since 1999, host the emerald green of Ireland in their first serious home match since winning the World Cup last November after Italy play Scotland in Rome.

France meet the Red Dragons of Wales at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on the following day.

Ireland mercilessly exposed Wales's flimsy pretensions as championship contenders during a bitterly cold Dublin afternoon on February 21.

Shane Byrne scored the first of two tries within the opening minute, crossing the line unopposed from a rolling maul during a performance which revealed the inadequacies of the Welsh pack.

The Irish hooker will get no such leeway on Saturday against the best pack in the world. Coach Clive Woodward has relegated the elongated Chris Jones to the replacements despite a highly impressive debut at flanker in the 35-13 win over Scotland while prop Jason Leonard, the world's most-capped player, cannot even make the bench.

DYNAMIC DUO

Ireland's only realistic hope is to at least hold their own in the forwards and give their dynamic centre duo of Brian O'Driscoll and Gordon Darcy some room to manoeuvre.

O'Driscoll, who resembles a Californian surfer these days with his tousled bleach blond hair, scored two tries against Wales through his acute eye for the right angles allied to sheer determination.

Despite wearing his accustomed number 13 shirt, the Ireland captain started at inside centre alongside Darcy, with the pair freely swapping places as the match evolved.

O'Driscoll is acclaimed as the premier centre in Europe and probably the best in the world. Darcy once aspired to similar status only to lose his way after playing in the 1999 World Cup.

"I got too much too soon," Darcy confessed to The Sunday Times. "It was a case of me being a muppet. I just have the ability to go off the rails."

Following a painful spell in the wilderness, Darcy returned to the Ireland side this year and after an impressive start against France looked as dangerous as O'Driscoll against the Welsh.

Still, while Ireland have one great player in O'Driscoll and several very good performers, they face an immense task on Saturday against an England side yet to play to their potential this year.

"We're playing the world champions in their own back yard," said Ireland coach Eddie O'Sullivan. "In effect it's the home coming of the world champions to Twickenham and there couldn't be a tougher assignment for any team than that."

Unkind as it might seem Saturday's match in Rome looks like a battle to avoid bottom place, leaving Wales-France as the other big game of the third round.

France coach Bernard Laporte caused a minor sensation on Wednesday by dropping his long-serving open side flanker Olivier Magne to the bench and moving Imanol Harinordoquy to the side of the scrum to accommodate Thomas Lievremont at number eight.

Harinordoquy was one of the few forwards to emerge with credit from the 25-0 win over Italy but France rarely show any interest in running up easy points against patently weaker opponents.

A Welsh win on Sunday would represent a major upset although France manager Jo Maso made the statutory disclaimers on Wednesday.

"They are on the up since the World Cup. They stood up to England in the quarter-final and nearly defeated them," Maso said. "We must not forget that playing at the Millennium is never an easy task."

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