Devin Toner has identified England lock George Kruis as a key cog in the England machine as he prepares for a lineout battle that could prove pivotal at Twickenham this Saturday.
Saracens man Kruis performed excellently in his country's two RBS 6 Nations wins against Scotland and Italy, even if Eddie Jones' men weren't exactly convincing in the lineout in Rome.
Toner is wary of the pace and ability of the old enemy, and has warned his team-mates they must be absolutely on the top of their game if they are to plunder anything from the trip across the water.
"They've a huge amount of talent, a huge amount of pace out wide," the Leinster totem told RTÉ Sport.
"They’ve been doing very well in the past two games so we’re going to have pressure on us to perform.
“In the lineout, [George] Kruis has taken on a lot of responsibility. He likes to back himself, and he’s been very successful at it.
"The scrum has been going well as well so that is a thing we’re going to have a look at. Our lineout has been going okay these last two games as well so it will be an interesting tussle.
“They showed it against Italy, if you give England any chance at all they’ll rip you apart. They’ve got a huge amount of pace out wide.
"Their passing game is really good, obviously with having two out-halves at 10 and 12, Ford and Farrell, they’re able to distribute the ball really well. We as a team have a lot respect for them."
Ireland have garnered just one point from their first two games, a return that has left the squad hugely frustrated.
Against both Wales and France, Joe Schmidt's men established healthy leads only to be pegged back - disastrously so in Paris, where the visitors managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
Toner is braced for another gruelling collision against the English but is hopeful an eradication of the small mistakes which have proved so costly can see Ireland come away with what would be a momentum-shifting victory.
“Wales and France were both hugely physical games, I don’t think England will be any different.
"If anything they’ll be a bit more to be honest. Pack-wise they’re explosive, a very athletic pack, they’re very powerful. We’re expecting a bruising encounter.
“We’ve got to be able to take our chances more. We could be in a wholly different situation if things had gone our way or we’d taken our chances – we could be looking at two wins – but unfortunately we’re not.
"Everyone has to get their own jobs right, get our defence right and try to take our chances when we can.
RTÉ Rugby analyst @AlanQuinlan1 calls for a little bit more imagination off ruck ball #againsttheheadhttps://t.co/RfKLUCocKU
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) February 23, 2016
“We always take one game at a time but we haven’t got a win yet so we are really focusing on this game. We’re soley focused on England at the minute."
Jones has urged his players to harness the universal "hatred" of England and make it work in their favour.
Twickenham undoubtedly will be a heaving and vocal arena this weekend, but the Leinster lock won't be paying too much attention to the atmosphere, as he does everything in his power to keep the locals quiet.
“I’ve only played there once against England, two years ago when we lost.
"It’s a great venue but as an away team, you have to block it out, block out the crowd as much as you can because you know they’re going to be jeering you.
"You know they’re going to be singing their chariot. You have to able to block it out.”
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