The country expects Ireland to deliver a Grand Slam at Twickenham. So should the players

Ronan O’Gara says this Ireland team should want to complete the Grand Slam, then go to Australia in the summer and win a Test series down there.

Before England could win the World Cup in Australia in 2003, Clive Woodward went to considerable lengths with his T-CUP (Thinking Clearly Under Pressure) strategies to ensure his players truly believed it to be possible. The culmination of that block-building arrived a few months before the World Cup in Wellington where England beat the All Blacks, and even more importantly, in Melbourne where they silenced the Wallabies 25-14. They completed a three-match sweep Down Under by defeating the Maoris. Woodward now knew his players were emboldened to do wonderful things in the autumn.

Joe Schmidt’s Ireland are the second-best team in the world now, with arguably the leading coach. The country expects Ireland to deliver a Grand Slam at Twickenham tomorrow. So should the players. They should want to complete the Grand Slam, then go to Australia in the summer and win a Test series down there.