Only eight times in their history have Ireland gone into the final round of the Championship with a Grand Slam on the line and Brian O’Driscoll admits they will have to do it the hard way.
Joe Schmidt’s men clinched the 2018 NatWest 6 Nations title with a bonus-point victory over Scotland combined with England’s defeat to France in Paris.
Click here for the complete 2018 NatWest 6 Nations fixture list
That leaves them nine points clear at the top of the table and going in search of a success at Twickenham that would bring them only their third-ever Grand Slam.
O’Driscoll was captain the last time Ireland won the Grand Slam, back in 2009, and he revealed that people in Ireland would be talking of little else this week.
Speaking on NatWest 6 Nations official broadcaster ITV, O’Driscoll said: “It will be a quiet working week this week with something at stake at the end of it. It will be front, middle and back pages of the papers for the whole week, we don’t have many of these Grand Slam opportunities. I think there have been eight in total.
“The country doesn’t do middle ground, we’re either bottom of the pile or top of the tree, so thankfully its top of the tree chat this week.
“This group of players are so well-drilled and such a quality outfit that they are probably deserving of it but they’ve got to do it that hard way over in Twickenham which will be a really tough test.”
