Maro Itoje will lead out England after Steve Borthwick named him captain for the Six Nations (Image: Getty)
Maro Itoje landed in Ireland on Thursday night ahead of mission impossible on Saturday, insisting his side can storm Dublin.
Itoje’s side are up against an side chasing a record third title on the spin this weekend and on the back of a dismal run of results.
They have lost six out of eight Test matches since their 23-22 win over the Irish at Twickenham last year, including a desperate run of near-misses.
England flew in from Girona, where they have been for 10 days prepping for this match, and Itoje is confident they can give the hot favourites a run for their money.
But they have to overcome Ireland’s awesome recent record at the Aviva where they have lost two out of their last 29 games.
The new England skipper said: “In their recent history, Ireland have put together a string of notable performances and have quality players. They have a bit of continuity, but we are a good team too. We have prepped well, we have come together quite nicely and we are clear about the plan.”
Steve Borthwick is under pressure as England head coach going into this year’s Six Nations (Image: Getty)
Boss Steve Borthwick’s starting line-up is short of line out options with a back row made up of Tom and Ben Curry and Ben Earl – none of whom are out and out jumpers.
Itoje and George Martin will have to do most of the work in that area of the game but the captain is adamant England have a cunning plan.
He added: “They have got a good line out, they have always had a good line out so that is no biggie. Our team our built differently and want to go about the game a different way.
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“We have enough line out jumpers. It is a massive part of the game and we have a well-oiled machine. If you look at our statistics we are pretty strong in terms of ball-winning.”
Ireland lost one of their big line out presences when lock Joe McCarthy pulled out after a training ground head bang. But Tadhg Beirne can do a job there and is shifted into the engine room with Ryan Baird included at blindside flanker.