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.