Johnson: England set for Irish backlash

MARTIN JOHNSON is not the sort of man who indulges in mind-games, but yesterday he braced himself to face a wounded animal when Ireland head to Twickenham a week on Saturday.

Both sides suffered chastening weekends in the Six Nations although, as Johnson is at pains to point out, England did at least win in Rome.

Having said that, their 17-12 victory over Italy was dubbed the eternal game in the Eternal City as England failed to get out of first-gear, but their suffering was nothing compared to Ireland’s.