O'Driscoll expecting tough Twickenham challenge
Ireland captain Brian O’Driscoll is warning his men to prepare for an England backlash in the last match of the RBS Six Nations Championship at Twickenham on Saturday.
Andy Robinson’s men are smarting after their dire performance against France in Paris and O’Driscoll believes they will be going all out to make amends in front of their own supporters.
“They’re going to be two very different performances,” he said. “There is a big difference in going to France and playing there and playing at Twickenham.
“The French played well and very little went for England. Two defeats for England is unusual in the Six Nations and they will want to make sure it’s not three.
“I expect them to up their performance at least 20 or 30%.
“Their defence is renowned for being pretty watertight, particularly at home, and I’m sure Phil Larder will be getting into them after last weekend.”
Ireland, England and reigning champions France all go into the final round of matches with a chance of glory after one of the most open tournaments in recent years.
The critics point out the closely-fought nature of the championship is due to a lowering of standards in the northern hemisphere and that the southern hemisphere teams will be salivating at the prospects for next year’s World Cup.
O’Driscoll disagrees but concedes that many of the Six Nations teams are in a process of change as they set their sights on France in 2007.
“Defences have been very much on top in this competition,” he said. “Some years you get attacks on top, other years you get defences on top.
“I don’t think it’s a concerning factor. It’s just happened that it’s been a very tight competition this year. No-one has really put their hand up and said they’re the best team.
“A lot of the teams in the Six Nations are going through a transition period.
“I think we’ve gradually been getting better with each game and hopefully that will continue this weekend.
“Although it’s not been spectacular rugby to watch, we go into the last weekend with an opportunity to win a Triple Crown and potentially to win a championship.
“If you’d asked us before the competition, we would have been happy with that.”
