Few weeks ago Irish were enthralled courtesy of the magnificent display of strength, courage and determination of K. O Brien.  Any English – Irish encounter is thrilling and fascinating. Irish will be hoping to continue to be in festive mood as the Ireland
will play England during Six Nations 2011.  While the sport, atmosphere, condition and techniques are different still the emotional level and the rivalry between two neighboring countries will be same as both teams will meet at Lansdowne Road today.

In lieu of the recent performance, England is nicely placed as they only need to lose with the short margin to dominate the points table which can also be guaranteed by Ireland’s poor track record.  Even yet, Ireland does enjoy good fortunes when they are
playing in their capital against England. England last was able to dominate the Irish in front of the home crowd during 2003 grand slam when their current coach Martin Johnson was captaining the side.

However to improve the track record Irish need to lift their game up as England has probably taken a closer look at the errors Irish team has make against France and Wales particularly keeping in view the 2009 scorecard when these two last played at Dublin
with Ireland managing to squeeze past England 14-13.  England on the other hand will also be confident after their impressive victories against Wales, Italy and France to mark a win over the Irish in Dublin to complete their 13th Championship clean sweep.

A team playing full 80 minutes of the professional rugby will score a win and consistency will be the key for success. If Ireland can improve upon short comings and play consistent rugby, then the match will go to the wire and audience will witness quality
rugby. On the contrary, England will benefit from the presence of Martin Johnson who has seen through these situations. 

Team News from both camps is positive as O’Driscoll will be looking to become the leading the try-scorer and Nick Easter will have the honors to captain the England in absence of Tindall who picked up an ankle ligament strain in the victory in their match
against Scotland.

While the weather in Dublin will be pleasant, the temperature on the field is expected to remain high as the history shows that a draw would be seemingly impossible as the last of the eight draws played between the two was way back in 1968.