Not a backward step, pledges Paulie

PAUL O’CONNELL believes the RBS Six Nations clash with the old enemy England will bring him up to speed in his recovery programme from an ailment that threatened his very career.

It’s only now that Ireland’s forward talisman is returning to peak form after months out of the game. Last week’s brush with Wales might not have given O’Connell the result he wanted but it did provide more of the physical preparation he knows will be needed to cope with unbeaten England on Saturday.

Whatever his personal view as to whether England are as good as their position at the head of the table suggests they are, O’Connell knows it’s going to be one hell of a physical battle. That, he said, is a given of any English team, any English team playing well or poorly.

“We know the scrum is going to be a big part of the game, the mauls and line outs too. Obviously the breakdown is a massive part of any game and against England it will be just as hard,” he said.

A hard day at the office for the Irish pack then?

“Yes,” said O’Connell, “for sure.”

But while O’Connell is well aware of the physicality England will bring to the table, he’s not about to take a step backwards and certainly won’t be in awe of what the visitors have achieved to date in this tournament.

He recognises that England are in pole position but feels there is no compelling reason to be intimidated.

“It makes it hard for us this weekend because England got a big result away from home against Australia in the summer and that probably kick-started their year and kick-started the belief in the team.

“In contrast, it has been very frustrating for us. I think when we’ve gone over our games we’ve done a lot of stuff well.

“Sometimes we’ve put together patches of play which have been just as good as anything we have done since I’ve been involved in Ireland.

“Added to that though, at times when we’ve played well we’ve chosen, for some reason to sit back and soak up the pressure and you can’t do that.

“I don’t think we’ve put in a real 80-minute performance in the Six Nations yet and that’s where you need to be in international rugby.

“You need very high-intensity. 80-minute performances and we haven’t done that. That’s what we need to do if we’re going to get a result against England.”

So is it possible, particularly against the background of Ireland’s mistake-ridden campaign to date? Yes, insists O’Connell, who promised nothing but a 100% effort to produce a result of substance against England.

“I think there’s an ambition to do whatever is right at the time. If we’ve to kick the ball all day hopefully the lads will do that.

“If it’s on to run all day, hopefully the lads will do that. I think we’ve just got to make the right decisions at the right time. I think that’s what any team aspires to do and we’re no different, but it’s time.”

Time indeed, with the 2012 world cup looming. Victory over England would be the perfect boost, though, said O’Connell.

“Well obviously our results at the moment wouldn’t be good enough in a world cup, particularly if we were in the knockout stage, we’d be gone.

“I think the big thing for us is an 80-minute performance. We’re doing some really good stuff in games for periods of time and then we’re leaving the pressure off. That’s a big thing for us, we need to play for 80 minutes but if we can take these (good) bits out of our game and maintain it then we’re on the right track.”