ALL IN THE 6 NATIONS:England have hardly made a secret of their recruitment policy for players born outside England in recent years, naturalising via residency any player who performs well for a Premiership club. Ireland can hardly be accused of innocence is this process, it's just that England have more options.

Anyway, here's the list of English - and, for balance, Irish players born outside the motherland but included in recent squads.

England: Dylan Hartley, Thomas Waldrom (New Zealand), Brad Barritt, Mouritz Botha, Matt Stevens (South Africa), Manu Tuilagi (Samoa),Billy Vunipola, Mako Vunipola (Tonga), Alex Corbisiero (USA), Lee Dickson, Matt Kvesic (Germany)

Ireland: Jamie Heaslip (Israel), Ronan O'Gara (United States), Richardt Strauss (South Africa), Michael Bent (New Zealand), Mike McCarthy (England), Declan Fitzpatrick (England), Tom Court (Australia), Isaac Boss (New Zealand)

Head-to-head: O'Driscoll v Tuilagi

PROFILES

The tutorial in "How to play Outside Centre" given to Jonathan Davies last Saturday makes this a Highlander duel - there can be only one - for the Lions Test jersey between a 34-year-old with 127 caps and creaking body giving away three stone to a 17- cap, 21-year-old Samoan wrecking ball who ended David Wallace's career with that ferocious tackle in August 2011.

TRY SCORING

O'Driscoll is Ireland's record try-scorer (46) and the Six Nations record holder (26) but his most famous try was the shredding of the World Cup winning Wallaby backline in the first Test of the 2001 Lions series. Tuilagi's 53 per cent return for England (nine tries), allied to the scores he creates, have all happened in the past 17 months.

STYLES

O'Driscoll will seek to lure Tuilagi into breaking ranks and make his favourite man-and-ball smash tackle. The guaranteed offload that follows will unlock England's defence. The only centre to ever really trouble The Master was Mathieu Bastareaud in Paris in 2010. Tuilagi presented similar problems in the 2011 European quarter-final but, adapting in the heat of battle, O'Driscoll went low and avoided the head-on collisions. Gordon D'Arcy's presence helps.

TEMPERAMENT

There have been assurances by Leicester that Tuilagi can control the rage that consumed him when reacting to a Chris Ashton shove by walloping his England team-mate three times in the face during the 2011 Premiership semi-final against Northampton. However, last season it took a coach's bear hug to stop Tuilagi joining an on-field brawl in the same fixture. He wasn't even a sub. The only thing that defrosts O'Driscoll's icy veins is not playing. He will love this challenge. They both will.

Brian O'Driscoll

Height: 1.78m/5ft 10in

Weight: 93kg/14st 9lb

Manu Tuilagi

Height: 1.85m/6ft 1in

Weight: 112kg/17st 8lb

Zebo can also flick the wheels of steel

Simon Zebo's latest YouTube clip has the winger back in his native Cork, last Saturday night after "the flick", clearly sober, and enjoying himself from the DJ's plinth in Havana Browns nightclub, playing a tune by Kanye West and Jay-Z. To see him in action go to http://bit.ly/XOXJ7J.