Jack McGrath relishing battle of the power packs

Jack McGrath believes Ireland’s scrum has no choice but to face England’s heavyweight pack head on at Twickenham today and is relishing the prospect of a front row battle royale.

The Irish set-piece has come under serious pressure in the first two games of this RBS 6 Nations campaign, with both Wales and France scoring their only tries off that platform following sequences of concerted scrummaging dominance.

France’s angular scrummaging from props Eddy Ben Arous and Rabah Slimani in Paris two weeks ago and Jaco Peyper’s officiating of it left Ireland seething but loosehead prop McGrath believes a fairer contest is on the cards against England although it is up to the Irish front row not to leave themselves open to misinterpretation by referee Romain Poite this evening.