Schmidt eyes the Crown

Winning a Triple Crown at Twickenham tomorrow will give Ireland’s players a massive confidence boost after five years without any silverware, says Joe Schmidt, but the head coach has warned they will have to roll their sleeves up to beat England.

Just five games into Schmidt’s tenure as national team boss having succeeded Declan Kidney at the end of last season, the New Zealander’s debut Six Nations campaign can deliver a first trophy this weekend as Ireland put their two-game unbeaten start to the championship on the line against a powerful English side on their home turf.

While talk of a Grand Slam to emulate Kidney’s 2009 triumph in his debut season as Ireland coach is still a way off yet, Schmidt did not shy aware from Triple Crown talk yesterday as he named an unchanged team from the one which demolished Wales 26-3 a fortnight ago.