Haskell undaunted by Irish barbs

James Haskell has dismissed taunts from the Ireland camp that the rest of the rugby world will be behind their bid to ruin England’s Grand Slam party on Saturday.

England-baiting has been a theme of the tournament, with Wales coach Warren Gatland aiming criticism at Dylan Hartley while France boss Marc Lievremont claimed: “We all don’t like the English.”

Ireland wing Tommy Bowe stirred the pot yesterday by declaring “all the different countries will be backing us” to stop England from winning their first Grand Slam since 2003.

Wales are the only side that can mathematically deny England the title and they will certainly be rooting for an Ireland victory at the Aviva Stadium.

But England have not been rattled yet – Hartley produced one of his finest performances against Wales – and Haskell insisted Ireland’s attempt at a war of words will also fail.

The Stade Francais flanker, one of 12 nominations for player of the tournament, believes England’s will to succeed is too strong to be upset by outside influences.

“Does all the pomp and circumstance of a week like this affect us while we are in camp? No it doesn’t,” Haskell said.

“Unless they firebomb the bus or come storming the hotel with placards it is an irrelevance for us.

“We have a lot of guys who have been there before, who have tasted that hostile environment. We have a lot of guys who have played in club finals, in tough occasions. That filters down through the squad.

“Martin Johnson will steer us through this week so all our energy is focused on the opposition. There will be nerves and fear but there will be excitement as well.”

England’s point-difference advantage over Wales is 40, leaving them strong favourites to clinch the title in Dublin even if they lose to Ireland.

It would be their first title since 2003 but Haskell admits it would be a hollow triumph on its own. What drives the squad on is the chance to join an esteemed list of Grand Slam winners.

In 2003, Haskell’s seven jersey was worn by Neil Back. In 1995 it was Peter Winterbottom.

Haskell is desperate to join that company and warned England’s players will regret it for the rest of their careers if they fail at the final hurdle on Saturday and let a Grand Slam slip away.

“This is a grand final against Ireland at the new Lansdowne Road. That is all the motivation you will ever need to have,” Haskell said.

“You want to go out there and perform and make sure nothing is left in the tank. What a shame it would be to go through this attritional Six Nations and play all that rugby to be left thinking about the what ifs.

“In the final week, it doesn’t matter if your leg is hanging off.

“You are going to leave nothing out on the field because if you do you will spend the coming years ruing the day you didn’t put the effort in.

“I know I’d be very disappointed by that and I am sure everyone else will be.”

Haskell admitted Sunday’s scrappy 22-16 Calcutta Cup victory had been a wake-up call ahead of the trip to Ireland, who can be expected to compete at the breakdown just as fiercely as Scotland.

“Across the board it was a disappointing game and that is one area we need to improve, although in other games it has gone well and we are on the case to fix it,” Haskell said.

“Ireland’s back row are all big strong men. If we learned anything from playing them at Twickenham it was that they won that breakdown battle and caused havoc.

“No stone has been left unturned to make sure we perform as well as we can do.”