Irish doing best to support weight of expectation

The role of favourites can sit uneasily on Irish shoulders and Eddie O'Sullivan and his men are doing their best to support the weight of expectation as they prepare for tomorrow's (NZT) clash with England at Lansdowne Road.

The coach was disappointed that Gordon D'Arcy had not recovered from a hamstring injury in time to play but the return to fitness of his centre partner and captain, Brian O'Driscoll, will strengthen Ireland's quest for their first Grand Slam in 57 years.

England are suffering from more injury scares - this time to flanker Lewis Moody - and criticism about selection, form and the stewardship of coach Andy Robinson.

O'Sullivan, however, appeared more eager to play down suggestions of a crisis in the opposition camp following England's defeats against Wales and France.

"I think England got caught a bit cold in Cardiff," O'Sullivan said as he announced O'Driscoll's return, which will see Shane Horgan move to inside centre and Kevin Maggs return to the bench.

"Wales came out of the blocks on fire but England only just lost the game. And they should have won against France at Twickenham. They lost because they missed kicks.

"At this level you've got to put those kicks over. England scored the tries in the game and played good rugby but missed their kicks and paid a big price for it."

Ireland's starting line-up will include 11 men who played when England won a Grand Slam decider at Lansdowne Road two years ago. England, ravaged by retirements and injuries, will start with just five of the team who put on one of the best displays of Clive Woodward's reign, winning 42-6.

"From a coaching point of view it's obviously an advantage to have a settled side," O'Sullivan said, before adding, not too convincingly: "England's changes are largely a result of retirements, so they're not surprises. They have a couple of injuries as well but I don't think it's a major deal. There aren't too many rookies in the team."

Asked to imagine what Andy Robinson might say to his team, O'Sullivan said: "I think the first thing you'd look at is their record. They don't often lose against Ireland. I think he'll also be warning them that there will be quite a hostile atmosphere at Lansdowne Road and to keep their composure.

"He'll be saying England are still a good team. They've lost a couple of games and are in transition but it would be very hard to find a bad England rugby team, no matter who they pick, because of the depth of talent they have. I think he'll get them focused on the fact that they're good enough to win the game if they keep their concentration under pressure."

O'Sullivan said he was looking forward to meeting with South African referee, Jonathan Kaplan, who officiated at the same fixture two years ago.

"Jonathan Kaplan is a world-class referee," he said. "He's refereed us many times. He knows how we try to play."

O'Driscoll said the incentive of playing against England had been a major factor in his recovery from injury, which included cryotherapy sessions in Poland with D'Arcy.

The process involves subjecting the body to extreme cold, which subsequently allows the player to train more than would otherwise have been possible.

"We were in the chamber at minus 135 degrees for three-and-a-half minutes," O'Driscoll said. "That's a long three-and-a-half minutes. You're in knee-high socks, shorts, gloves, headband and a mask. You come out and have to heat your body up again for 10 minutes, so we did our fitness sessions straight afterwards. Then we had lunch, an afternoon weights session or more track work, and then another cryotherapy session."

O'Driscoll scoffed at suggestions that Ireland were in the same position as England were two years ago.

"Yeah, the World Cup will be in the bag if we win this year, right," he said with heavy irony. "I wouldn't say we were at that level yet. I think the England team that won the World Cup was one of the best sides in my experience. We're still a distance away from that but I feel that we're getting closer to it."

England have a worry over flanker Lewis Moody who has an infected finger and only a slim chance of playing against Ireland. Andy Hazell could play instead with Chris Jones moving onto the bench.

England: Jason Robinson (Sale Sharks, captain), Mark Cueto (Sale Sharks), Jamie Noon (Newcastle Falcons), Olly Barkley (Bath), Josh Lewsey (London Wasps), Charlie Hodgson (Sale Sharks), Harry Ellis (Leicester Tigers), Martin Corry (Leicester Tigers), Lewis Moody (Leicester Tigers), Joe Worsley (London Wasps), Danny Grewcock (Bath), Ben Kay (Leicester Tigers), Matt Stevens (Bath), Steve Thompson (Northampton Saints), Graham Rowntree (Leicester Tigers).

Ireland: Geordan Murphy (Leicester Tigers), Girvan Dempsey (Leinster), Brian O'Driscoll (Leinster, captain), Shane Horgan (Leinster), Dennis Hickie (Leinster), Ronan O'Gara (Munster), Peter Stringer (Munster), Anthony Foley (Munster), Johnny O'Connor (London Wasps), Simon Easterby (Llanelli Scarlets), Paul O'Connell (Munster), Malcolm O'Kelly (Leinster), John Hayes (Munster), Shane Byrne (Leinster), Reggie Corrigan (Leinster).

- INDEPENDENT