Joe Schmidt warned his Ireland squad to be ready for England’s ‘brutality’ as the reigning champions kick off their Guinness Six Nations defence against Eddie Jones’ men in Dublin.
Rarely has the opening weekend of the Six Nations been so pivotal, with the two dominating forces of the last five years of the Championship going head-to-head in pursuit of another trophy.
Ireland clinched the Grand Slam last year with a 24-15 victory at Twickenham to consign England to a fifth-place finish and they will attempt to seal a third straight win against the 2017 winners in next Saturday’s curtain-raiser.
But Schmidt knows an opening victory against England is far from an easy feat and is warning his players to brace themselves for a brutal first-round contest against an in-form Eddie Jones’ side intent on avenging the humiliation of last season.
Speaking at the Guinness Six Nations Launch, the Irish head coach said: “We have to be well prepared for the inevitable physical nature of the contest.
“I think England are going to be very physical, and they have the firepower to do so with the likes of (Billy) Vunipola, (Nathan) Hughes and (Ben) Te’o.
“We will look at what we think is the best way to try and approach the game and we will pick our team based on who we think will be most effective against England’s gameplan.
“We will keep trying different combinations and as long as no-one is spying, people won’t realise and hopefully we’ll get the right one to combat England.”
Schmidt knows England will be a challenging opening fixture, with Jones’ side boosted by the success of their autumn campaign which saw them win three matches from four just months ahead of facing an Irish side placed second in the world rankings.
And Schmidt insists losing short-term focus and looking past England’s threat could be fatal to Ireland’s Six Nations title defence.
“It would be dangerous for us to think about anything beyond the England game,” he added.
“It will be a huge game for us against England, particularly in the context of what has happened over the past couple of years.
“We know everyone is going to be at their best against us, because they’ll want to get a win.
“We can’t become complacent. Anything can happen in this game and you can run out of luck at any stage.”
