The big game is still over a week away but Dylan Hartley says England already know precisely how to beat Ireland at Twickenham. It is two months since his club Northampton upset an international-studded Leinster side in Dublin in the Heineken Cup, having suffered a "humiliating" home loss to the same opposition a week earlier, and England's hooker anticipates a similar outcome if the home pack turn up in the right frame of mind.
Hartley has been one of the driving forces behind England's improving forward effort and believes the key to Six Nations success against the unbeaten Irish is simple. "That Leinster game at home will forever live in my memory. It was the manner in which we lost that was humiliating. The biggest thing we lacked was mental intensity. On the day an international side turned up from Leinster and played against a poor club side.
"The following week there was no pressure. We said: 'Look, no one is giving us a chance, let's just focus on physicality, which we brought in abundance, and on the process. Instead of thinking about the result, let's think about the first scrum or attack move and move on to the next job.' Basically, if you focus on being pretty physical you'll be intense. And if you can do that for 80 minutes …"
In other words, England's forwards will be seeking, a week on Saturday, to halt a confident Irish side at source, much as they did two years ago when an injury-hit green scrum splintered under severe strain and Ireland lost 30-9. Hartley also insists he and his team-mates will not get suckered into ill-tempered feuds with their opposite numbers, despite the occasionally fractious history of this fixture. "I've played them enough this year and against Leinster it didn't feel as though they were coming for me. They're all good enough players not to think like that. As soon as you think about going after someone you're not thinking about rugby and you can set yourself up for a fall. They – and me – are too wise and too experienced for that."
Hartley, the most experienced member of England's lineup with 52 caps, is also aware he cannot afford to be dragged into any further high-profile disciplinary trouble, having been sent off in last year's Premiership final for dissent. It cost the 27-year-old a place on the summer Lions tour, with Ireland's hooker Rory Best taking his place. "It was my doing, wasn't it? I hope he enjoyed the experience. I'll be sure to talk to him about it after the game next weekend but, more importantly, I'm looking forward to another good challenge against another good player. I decided that if I got back here I'd enjoy it and almost cherish it, because you're one game away from being on the other side of the headlines. When you're not in the team or you are injured, you miss it."
The Saints captain is unwilling, for that reason, to accept he has now seen off the challenge of his Leicester rival Tom Youngs, a starting Test Lion in Australia, despite his fine all-round performance in England's 20-0 Calcutta Cup victory. "A lot of people forget it was only three games ago that I was on the road to redemption from the summer. They get caught up in the 20 lineouts we won in Edinburgh and forget I was on the bench against Australia in November. But as soon as I sit back and say 'Aah, done it' I'll play a bad game and Tom will be back. Tom's very resilient and he's not going to back down. I know he's going to be coming back and I'm sure he's got some sort of masterplan to get back into the team."
Tactically, meanwhile, England have identified several areas of improvement after the Scotland game at Murrayfield, not least achieving a higher success-rate from driven attacking lineouts. "We had seven lineouts within 10 metres [of Scotland's line] but didn't score a mauling try," reflected Hartley. "We left that game thinking that, as forwards, we could have scored a couple of more tries. The scoreline would have looked much better."
