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| Venue: Twickenham Stadium, London Date: Saturday, 9 March Kick-off: 16:45 GMT |
| Coverage: Listen on BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC Sounds & BBC Radio Ulster; live text updates, report, reaction & highlights on BBC Sport website & app |
Ireland head coach Andy Farrell says he does not pay attention to England’s critics as he labelled them an “unbelievably dangerous” team.
England go into Saturday’s Six Nations game against Grand Slam-chasing Ireland on the back of a dispiriting loss to Scotland.
But Farrell expects Steve Borthwick’s side to give his players “one hell of a battle” at Twickenham.
“I don’t get involved with the criticism at all,” he said.
Farrell, who won eight caps for England and spent four years as Stuart Lancaster’s assistant coach, added: “I don’t look at that. I look at the individuals, the way they are playing, the coaching staff that they’ve got, the plan that they’ve got.
“I know that they’re a fantastic side that’s going to be preparing to give it everything they’ve got so that makes them unbelievably dangerous.
“We prepare for them to be at their best and if that’s the case it’s going to be one hell of a battle.”
Ireland were pushed by 14-man England in Dublin in the final game last year, but ground out a 29-16 win to clinch the Grand Slam on home soil.
When asked about improving on that display, Farrell said: “England did very well at slowing us down last year. It wasn’t just [our] errors. The game was slow.
“Whether that was a tactic of theirs or not I don’t know, but we’ll have to expect more of the same I would have thought.
“We’ll take each minute as it comes. That’s the nature of the game. That was a year ago and then we go back a couple of weeks, against Wales, and we wanted to do better then as well, so there’s always going to be that case.”
Farrell was speaking after naming his team to face England, with fit-again Hugo Keenan replacing Ciaran Frawley at full-back in the only change from the win over Wales in Dublin.
“I think it’d be a boost for any side in world rugby, he’s a world-class full-back isn’t he?,” he said of Keenan’s return.
“It’s testament to him and it’s no shock to us that he’s been able to get himself back to this position to be involved this weekend.
“He’s been unbelievably diligent to make that happen.”
‘Circumstances’ meant Ringrose was edged out
While Keenan returns, centre Garry Ringrose is not included in Farrell’s matchday 23 despite recovering from a shoulder problem, with Farrell opting for Conor Murray and Frawley as his two replacement backs.
“He’s fit and he’s well,” Farrell said of Ringrose, who is yet to feature in this year’s championship.
“He’s trained all week, all the contact work necessary to be available. It’s just circumstances. I had the chat with him yesterday and he was smiling actually. It’s just circumstances, he knows what I think about him as a rugby player.
“His comment to me was that he’s been on the good side of circumstances so many times, so he understands.”
Ireland will retain the Six Nations title with a match to spare if they secure a bonus-point win over England.
Victory would also keep the world’s number two ranked side on course for a second successive Grand Slam before their final fixture at home to Scotland on 16 March.
