Captain Mick Galwey insisted Ireland have no intention of provoking England skipper Martin Johnson at Twickenham today. Johnson goes into the Six Nations match under the cloud of a pending appearance at an RFU disciplinary hearing following the much-publicised punch he landed on Saracens hooker Robbie Russell.
But Galwey said: "I don't think that will be an issue. This is an international game and what happened last weekend in a club game is nothing to do with it. We will be concentrating on our team game."
Irish coach Eddie O'Sullivan refused to align himself with France's coach Bernard Laporte who criticised England's Clive Woodward for not dropping Johnson from tomorrow's match. "We just look after our own discipline in the team and play within the rules. It isn't an issue for us. Once the teams are on the field tomorrow and the ball is kicked off, the Martin Johnson incident is of no consequence," O'Sullivan said.
But both Galwey and O'Sullivan expect the massive presence of Johnson to have a big influence as injury kept Johnson out of the England team that were beaten by Ireland at Lansdowne last Autumn. "Johnson was missed in Dublin in the autumn," said O'Sullivan. "We know England are going to play better than they did in October. We had a good day out in Dublin but we can't dwell on it."
"We have to got to play to a very high standard. To achieve the performance we did against Wales will be very difficult, to replicate that is a big ask because of the team we are playing against," O'Sullivan added. "England are a very solid unit. If you leave yourself open they can do you a lot of damage."
Galwey, a veteran of the Irish victories over England in 1993 and 1994, rates the October win in Dublin above those. "That was the best England team we have beaten. It was the first time we had beaten them since the game went professional so that makes it special," he said. "I won't say I can see any chinks in their side but every team is beatable."
The match is live on RTE Radio One from 2.30pm.
Filed by Sinéad Kissane
