Former Ireland winger and British and Irish Lion Tommy Bowe has delivered a damning assessment of his former team, saying that they have 'peaked' ahead of the Rugby World Cup in 2023.
His former teammate Johnny Sexton has announced this week that he will retire at that tournament at the age of 38, saying that he wants to go out at the top but Bowe believes that it may come too late to see the best of Sexton and Ireland.
Ireland beat the All Blacks in the autumn before being back to their best in this year's Six Nations but this could follow the pattern of the last cycle where they beat the All Blacks as well as winning a grand slam before turning up at the World Cup undercooked.
In that tournament they were poor in the group stage, losing to Japan before crashing out in the quarter finals to a heavy 46-14 defeat at the hands of the All Blacks and Bowe fears that the same could happen this time around.
He said while speaking to Genting Casino this week : “I am a bit fearful that we’ve got our timings wrong again, it seems a little bit like the last World Cup where we beat the All Blacks and won the Grand Slam and everything was going brilliantly, but the following year the wheels came off and teams got cute to the style of rugby we were playing.
“We also had key players in the team who were starting to move on a bit with their age and certainly you have to worry a year-and-a-half out from the World Cup.
“With the likes of Johnny Sexton, he’s 36 and he’s going to be 38 by the time the World Cup comes around. Can we really hang our hat on him?
“I still think the jury is out on Joey Carbery whether he’s really the man to replace him."
England's match with Ireland this weekend is the biggest of the tournament so far, with both teams still in with a chance of taking the crown.
A defeat for either England would spell the end of their championship dreams while Ireland could still win if they lose if Wales do them a favour in Cardiff on Friday and win against grand slam chasing France.
Bowe has also offered his opinion on England, praising the tournament's top points scorer Marcus Smith while going on to emphasise the importance of having more experienced heads around the 23-year-old.
The former Ulster man said: “He’s [Smith] been really good and grown into the position at 10. I think he’s struggled not having an Owen Farrell or Manu Tuilagi at 12 next to him.
“I don’t think the English back line is quite firing yet and I’m not too sure what it is their missing, whether it’s that experience or that extra set of eyes outside of Marcus Smith and the 12 jersey.
“I think [Marcus Smith] he’s an incredible talent. We saw it when he got his chance with the Lions in the summer and how impressive he is with Harlequins. He’s only going to get better with time but he’s going to be a player that Ireland will target but it’s hard to pin it on one person.”
