England a worthy rival but Ireland can prevail, says Les Kiss

Ireland may have lost four times in a row to their next RBS 6 Nations opponents, but assistant coach Les Kiss refuses to believe England have the upper hand going into their March 1 showdown at the Aviva Stadium.

The reigning champions and pre-2015 tournament favourites concluded a two-day training camp in Galway yesterday with a bristling contact session open to the public at the Sportsground which attracted more than 3,000 supporters who will have come away from the experience in no doubt as to just how geared up for the clash with England their heroes will be in 10 days time.

Five days after the most bruising of physical encounters against a massive France side, when Joe Schmidt’s men mounted a successful defensive rearguard to hold on for an 18-11 win, there was no going through the motions in what is supposed to be a “down” week ahead of next week’s intense build-up to the round three matches.

The English will be another tough examination of Ireland’s defensive qualities although forward Iain Henderson suggested size wasn’t everything.

“I think one thing we like to target is our collective,” said Henderson.

“They can be as big and as individual and as aggressive as they want, but they won’t beat our collective hits, our two-on-one tackles and how well we work as a team.

“That’s one thing we have really going for us. We have a few big players, but as a whole we’re not a massive nation physically. But with our aggression and our attitude we’re able to dominate teams.”

There is plenty to prove for this Ireland squad having lost narrowly to Stuart Lancaster’s side at Twickenham last February, their fourth straight loss since a World Cup warm-up defeat in Dublin in August 2011.

That has been followed by three championship defeats in a row, but defence coach Kiss, who has been on the coaching staff since 2008, sought to throw some grey into the mix to break up the black and white nature of the scores.

“I don’t know whether it’s been a total upper hand,” he said.

“Maybe the game in England a couple of years ago (30-9 in 2012) was a massive one for us. But last year could have gone any way.

“We were so close it wasn’t funny, so whether there’s an upper hand I’m not so sure. I think since my time here there is a massive respect between the two teams and what each one can offer on any given day.

“Sometimes the home advantage is something that can always be the difference.

“That doesn’t guarantee us anything this time, and we know that. I think they’re also in a place where they’ve been so close to nailing a competition; that each year they just want to make sure they get over the line and do that, so they’re driven and I don’t think it’s a case of having a total upper hand. They’ve worked and got the results and probably deserved a couple of them (but) last year could have gone either way, I think it was a three-point match in the end.”

Ireland, of course had the last laugh 11 months ago when their victory in Paris over France delivered a first Six Nations title since 2009 and consigned Lancaster to a third straight season of runner-up finishes from four-win campaigns. But Kiss believes Schmidt’s side face a tall order to contain Lancaster’s increasingly-confident side in a match that could define this year’s Six Nations.

“You’ve got to be really on your game and make sure you do hit and stick in your tackles,” said Kiss.

“You’ve got to get them to the deck early, make them make decisions about how they load their attack.

“They are loaded across the park and they have got options too. Cipriani comes on late and shows some magic as well.

“The analysis of it has opened our eyes to the challenge ahead and what it presents.

“With the type of competition this is, it’s not going to be over until the last game, no matter what happens in the next match.

“There are more surprises to come, Scotland have more to come, the French can be dangerous still and Wales will keep coming. I don’t think the result in the next fortnight will determine the tournament at all.”

Kiss also moved to downplay the impact of Johnny Sexton returning to France for Racing Metro action this weekend.

The 29-year-old will face a stern examination against Clermont for his Paris club side, just a week after being clattered about the Aviva Stadium by Mathieu Bastareaud on his return after a 12-week concussion absence.

“Johnny’s a pro and he’ll get back and get in front of things in terms of the computers when he gets back,” said Kiss.

“He’ll get in front of the vision and he’ll get to chat with the guys and will get in front of things really early (next week).

“Rather than being a glass half-empty it’s a glass half-full situation, because Joe (Schmidt) gets a chance to work with Ian Madigan in this case for this training session.

“So he can build that a little bit more, so there is a silver lining to it as well. The fact that Johnny’s not here, that’s just a reality and it’s an opportunity for Joe to work with Mads a bit more.”

Tommy Bowe and Keith Earls sat out parts of the session purely to manage their workloads.

Full-back Rob Kearney also appeared to receive treatment on a foot but was later declared to be “fine”.