Ryan grateful for perfect preparation

The bodies may be bruised as Ireland continue to recover from their extremely intense encounter with Wales at the weekend but Donnacha Ryan believes the national team got exactly the workout needed to ready themselves for this Sunday’s RBS 6 Nations showdown with England.

Ireland welcome Stuart Lancaster’s resurgent side to the Aviva Stadium this weekend looking to build on the ultimately hard-fought 30-22 victory over last year’s Grand Slam champions Wales at the Millennium Stadium last Saturday.

Having enjoyed a 30-3 lead with 42 minutes gone in Cardiff, thanks in part to tries from Simon Zebo, Cian Healy and man of the match Brian O’Driscoll, Ireland needed sometimes desperate defence against a furious Welsh backlash, particularly when reduced to 14 men for the last 20 minutes following yellow cards for Rory Best and then Conor Murray.