Ireland hooker Jerry Flannery has stoked up the fires beneath Saturday’s crucial RBS 6 Nations showdown at Twickenham by warning England they should fear the Irish pack.
A monster set of forwards is currently one of the few strengths of the English game and they will be desperate to claw back some of the reputation battered by yesterday’s dismal 31-6 defeat by France.
But Flannery insists Ireland will not be intimidated when they meet the world champions’ brutal pack as they target a second Triple Crown in three years and Six Nations glory.
"I’m not worried about England’s forwards at all - I’ve played against some of them before. I’m confident of my ability and my fellow forwards’ ability," said the Munster man.
"England should be looking at us and seeing what we can do. A lot of people talk up the English sides all the time and I’m getting used to that. The more I watch Sky Sports the more they talk about the English pack and how good they are.
"The English forwards are good players but at the end of the day they’re just skin and bone like me and we need to get stuck into them. England are a big pack but I’d rather focus on what we’re doing. I’m proud to be playing for Ireland."
One of the areas where Ireland will pose the greatest danger to English ambitions of restoring tarnished pride is at the line-out. The Irish won all 21 of their own throws in Saturday’s 15-9 victory over Scotland and managed to steal eight of Scotland’s 22, giving them a stranglehold on the set-piece.
The accuracy of Flannery’s throwing and disruptive brilliance of Paul O’Connell and Malcolm O’Kelly underpinned these statistics, but props John Hayes and Marcus Horan also played their part.
"If you look at our pack we have so many good second rows in Paul O’Connell, Malcolm O’Kelly and Donncha O’Callaghan," said Flannery. "But on top of that John Hayes is probably the best lifter in world rugby and Marcus Horan is not far behind him, which makes my job much easier."
Flannery has emerged as one of Ireland’s players of the Six Nations and could push star lock O’Connell for that honour when the tournament finishes. The 27-year-old’s progress has been remarkable given he entered the championship with just one cap. Now his ball-carrying, work in the loose and tidy work at the set-piece have made him indispensable.
He produced another masterclass on Saturday, although he was on the receiving end of one huge hit from Scotland skipper Jason White which could be felt up in the stands. "I don’t remember any big hits! I got knocked into next week, but I got up. I would liked to have stayed down but you can’t do that," he said.
"I told Jason it was a good hit and I could hear one of the Scots asking me ‘are you still alive?"’
Ireland coach Eddie O’Sullivan is set to name an unchanged starting line-up when he makes his last team announcement of the 2006 Six Nations at lunchtime tomorrow. There were no fresh injuries to report following the victory over Scotland and the only alteration could come on the bench, if Johnny O’Connor shakes off his groin injury in time to oust Mick O’Driscoll.
