Peter O’Mahony braced for battle

Peter O’Mahony is under no illusions about the size of the task facing the Ireland pack when England rumble into the Aviva Stadium tomorrow afternoon.

Having lost three times in a row to Stuart Lancaster’s side, the Irish blindside flanker has long respected the men in white. He came on as a sub at Twickenham for his fourth cap in his Six Nations debut season in 2012 and ran into a scrummaging masterclass being conducted by the English front row in a 30-9 defeat, then experienced two narrow losses at home and away.

Yet the Munster captain, now 25, believes England will be even harder to beat this time around when the RBS 6 Nations’ two unbeaten teams clash in Dublin, and that chances will have to be taken.