Six Nations 2024: ‘England at Twickenham always a huge test for Ireland’

Playing England in last year’s Six Nations is something I’ll never forget. The entire week was just brilliant and the stars really aligned for us as we clinched the Grand Slam on home soil on St Patrick’s weekend.

It was a really tight match, even though England played most of it with 14 players after Freddie Steward’s red card.

I’m sure the Ireland fans were nervous for much of the afternoon until the final whistle blew.

We have certainly had the upper hand on England in recent years in terms of results, but they are still England and it’s still Twickenham.

When you travel to Twickenham, it doesn’t matter what form England are in. Most of the time, they are able to put in big performances in front of their home fans.

There is a certain aura to Twickenham. It’s this massive cauldron of a place and it’s a great place to play rugby. Winning there is a brilliant feeling, but it certainly does not come easy.

The bus ride in is always interesting with the fans there to greet you when you arrive. It creates a real buzz and helps kick you into game mode nice and early.

England will want to use the crowd’s energy to their advantage, of course. They are coming off a defeat by Scotland at Murrayfield and will definitely be fired up to stop Ireland from potentially winning the championship with a game to spare.

If England are on top, Twickenham can be tough enough for visiting teams, but that is something Ireland can control.

The lads will have discussed the importance of making a good start and silencing the crowd early on. They know what’s at stake and know the importance of not allowing England to build momentum.

‘Top-level performance needed’

To beat England, Ireland will need a top-level performance and must tweak a few things from the win over Wales a fortnight ago.

Against Wales, we started really well and were cruising at 17-0 up at half-time. To be fair to Wales, they really came out strongly in the second half and got themselves a bit momentum.

I think a lot of teams would have let Wales back into the game under that pressure, so overcoming that and winning by 24 points was a mark of how confident Ireland are at the moment and the players we have.

But as has already been pointed out, Ireland must keep the penalty count down. Caelan Doris spoke about eliminating the “silly penalties” that cropped up in the second half against Wales and he’s right. That is something that will have been addressed in the build-up this week.

We pride ourselves on our discipline and not making simple errors, the guys will want to improve those aspects of the game at Twickenham.

England have had a tricky enough start to the Six Nations. There has been a lot of talk about them trying to change the way they are playing and adopting a more attack-minded approach.

That is a process they are going through at the moment. You can see flashes of the new style they’re trying to implement under Steve Borthwick, but it just hasn’t really come off yet.

But there is going to be a game when it clicks for them.

That’s why this will be such a big test for Ireland. With their backs against the wall and a loud Twickenham behind them, England have enough quality in their side to cause real problems for any team, which is why only a big 80-minute performance from us playing our game will do.

England obviously have a really good scrum and a strong bench. They’re effective at the line-out, too. Jamie George throwing to Maro Itoje, that’s a combination that’s been tried and tested for years now.

Beyond that, they’ve got a really dynamic back row with big breakdown threats like Ben Earl. He’s an incredibly strong guy, does a lot of the unseen work and brings a lot of energy to their team.

That is part of what Ireland will have to control. Trying to prevent those moments when Earl and the England players can celebrate and build momentum.

Ireland have been brilliant at the breakdown in this tournament and continuing that is going to be key. That’s a part of their game that gives England energy.

But Ireland will be focused on executing their plan to deliver another positive result, possibly win the title and set up another shot at the Grand Slam against Scotland.

Rob Herring was speaking to BBC Sport NI’s Matt Gault