Red Rose a thorn in Kearney side

Rob Kearney has more reason than most to get stuck into England at Twickenham on Saturday.

The Ireland full-back will be playing against the English for just the third time, on St Patrick’s Day, having not faced them since the Grand Slam year of 2009, when Declan Kidney’s team eked out a 14-13 home win at Croke Park.

His previous appearance was a painful experience at Twickenham the previous year as a 33-10 defeat brought the Eddie O’Sullivan era to an end.

So Kearney has been a spectator for the past two years as consecutive victories have confirmed Irish dominance over the Red Rose in Six Nations games, raising the tally to eight wins and four defeats in the 12 meetings since 2000, while he was also absent through injury last August when England won a World Cup warm-up 20-8 at the Aviva Stadium.

Last year’s resounding 24-8 victory came as Kearney was nearing the end of a lengthy spell on the sidelines with a knee problem.

But the full-back recognised the significance of bringing Martin Johnson’s Grand Slam hopes to a crashing halt in Dublin.

“I was watching that from Row Z over in block whatever, but I think that was a big victory for us,” Kearney recalled. “We were at home in the final game of the competition and we probably had not done as well in the Six Nations as we had hoped, so it was an important win for Ireland to beat England at home last year.”

Of his own experience against England, Kearney’s memories are of the 2008 defeat at Twickenham, a game in which he scored Ireland’s only try.

“We got off to a great start and were 10-0 up after 10 minutes and they just came back at us. It was Eddie’s last day in charge and they gave us a pretty strong beating. Since then, I’ve actually missed a lot of the English games through injuries, so Saturday is one I’m looking forward to.”

Kearney has seen England regroup in the wake of last season’s Grand Slam heartache and the subsequent World Cup debacle under the stewardship of caretaker head coach Stuart Lancaster, and though he is hopeful Ireland’s winning run against them stretches into another year, he is mindful of the improvements made.

“I suppose if you are winning seven of your last eight (Six Nations) games against them, it probably means you are a better side than them,” he said. “I’d like to think that trend would continue and we do remain a better side. They are probably outdoing themselves in this Six Nations in terms of the expectations levels they had coming into the competition, with an inexperienced side and maybe an inexperienced coaching panel as well.

“They’ve outdone themselves and that victory last weekend just showcased what they can offer.”

That victory, the remarkable 24-22 win over France in Paris, was the latest signal that England are improving quickly under Lancaster.

“I was (surprised),” Kearney said. “France are a difficult team to beat away, especially after their draw to us the week before and they were starting to build momentum, going into their third week in a row.

“I thought they’d play a little bit better but that’s taking nothing away from England’s performance. I thought they played really well, they took their opportunities well and to go 14 up after 20-25 minutes is no mean feat away in Paris.”

England’s victory at Stade de France brought Ireland’s 17-17 draw there seven days earlier into sharp focus, particularly as the Irish failed to close out a 17-6 half-time lead over Philippe Saint-Andre’s side.

“I think they went in at half-time 14-9, (about) the same score we went in at half-time. They just managed to score in the second half and we didn’t and I think that is where ultimately our draw came down to, a lack of points in the second half.”

The contrasting experiences in Paris will add to the intrigue surrounding Saturday’s game between the old foes, and although Kearney would treasure a win in the French capital above all else, he is ready to embrace the added edge an Ireland-England game always provides, wherever the venue.

“That huge rivalry will still be there in 50 years. It is something we have built into us as Irish people and I think it is important to try and use that to our advantage this weekend.

“I just think there is something about the English fixtures that just spices things up a little bit more.”