Jack Conan insists there aren’t any simple video games in opposition to England after serving to in-form Ireland keep heading in the right direction for a Six Nations grand slam going into subsequent weekend’s Dublin finale.
Andy Farrell’s aspect shrugged off a significant damage disaster on Sunday to swat apart Scotland with a 22-7 win which retains them in pole place for Six Nations glory.
England will journey throughout the Irish Sea searching for to spoil the St Patrick’s weekend occasion however reeling from Saturday’s record-breaking humiliation by the hands of France.
Back-rower Conan, who claimed his nation’s third and last strive at Murrayfield, is cautious of a backlash when Steve Borthwick’s males arrive on the Aviva Stadium.
“Look, they faced a quality French side,” he mentioned. “We beat France a few weeks ago and I think they’ve got better and better ever since then and they’ve really bounced back incredibly well.
“France are hard to play against whether it’s home or away. I thought they (England) had some really good elements of their game but I know they will be disappointed and they will look to be better on Saturday.
“We know how difficult it’s going to be against England in the Aviva. There’s no easy games, especially against them, so we will need to be at our best, recover, look after each other and be better for how we played (on Sunday).”
England capitulated to an embarrassing 53-10 drubbing in opposition to Les Bleus which emphatically wiped them out of rivalry for the championship.
Ireland, who at the moment are vying with the French for the title, then underlined their standing because the world’s top-ranked nation by overcoming the lack of 5 key gamers – Caelan Doris, Dan Sheehan, Iain Henderson, Ronan Kelleher and Garry Ringrose – throughout a dramatic go to to Edinburgh.
Conan extinguished hope of a Scottish fightback by including to scores from Mack Hansen and James Lowe, having come off the bench to exchange the stricken Doris inside 12 minutes.
The 30-year-old Leinster participant is loving life within the Irish camp.
“It’s the biggest privilege of our lives, I really think it is,” mentioned Conan, who toured with the British and Irish Lions in 2021.
“We speak about it all the time that these are the best days you’re ever going to have.
“It’s just a great bunch of lads. It’s so enjoyable. You just bounce into camp, you’re loving every second of it.
“We work incredibly hard and it’s difficult but the craic that we have, the camaraderie that we have is not something I’ve experienced in any other squad before, in any other team.”
The untimely departures of hookers Sheehan and Kelleher in opposition to the Scots led to flanker Josh van der Flier throwing lineouts, whereas veteran prop Cian Healy stuffed the void within the quantity two function.
Conan felt the unlucky and weird circumstances heightened the sense of feat.
“Lads were laughing,” he mentioned. “You’re in the thick of it thinking, ‘what’s going on?’ It makes it even more of a special day that you’ve faced this adversity.
“It was one of the proudest days in green that I’ve ever been a part of.
“You really feel emotional when you talk about it afterwards about how proud you are of each other, about how much hard work and how much sacrifice you’ve put into it.”
