Ireland to play England in World Cup warm-up

The Aviva Stadium will host a pre-World Cup fixture between Ireland and England on August 27, 2011, just two weeks before the start of the Rugby World Cup next year.

"It is going to be tight but with Argentina as the first game we felt we needed a game two weeks before, not three weeks before," said England manager Martin Johnson.

The decision of Declan Kidney to agree to such a fixture is in stark contrast to Eddie O'Sullivan's disastrous minimal match intensity build-up to the 2007 Rugby World Cup.