England favourites, but history makes it a whole new ball game

Weather conditions at Lansdowne Road tomorrow are expected to be perfect for rugby. But it's not all bad news for Ireland.

Despite predictions of a calm, dry day for the big match, there are grounds for optimism that the wind could be up any English player who finds himself under a dropping ball in the opening minutes.

The high-pressure system building over Dublin 4 may yet make a mockery of England's status as favourites for the Six Nations grand slam.

And history is on the home team's side too. England have repeatedly choked in crunch away games, whereas Ireland have never lost when playing for the grand slam at home (you'd have to be a heartless cynic to point out that there has been only one such match, in 1948, and that was in Belfast).

World Cup and all, this is the biggest rugby event ever to hit Dublin. Tickets were still changing hands yesterday, but not cheaply.

One English website was seeking up to £675 for a seat in the stand, or a mere £350 for the terraces, and tout prices are expected to climb even further as tomorrow's 2 p.m. kick-off approaches.

A worry for the Irish team is the number of visiting fans, with sales of their allocations by local rugby clubs likely to swell the English support and dilute the Lansdowne roar.

Aer Lingus and Ryanair are each carrying an extra five to six thousand passengers from England over the weekend, and hotels have been booked as far away as Mullingar.

But if it's the thought that counts, the home team will be buoyed by the 125,000 good luck messages collected from all around the country and presented yesterday to captain Brian O'Driscoll.

Even the GAA heartland of mid-Galway - yes, where the actual Fields of Athenry come from - is getting behind the effort. Flags, banners and bunting have appeared in Moylough and Mountbellew, homeland of coach Eddie O'Sullivan.

Next to the game itself, the biggest clash in Dublin 4 tomorrow could be the cultural collision in local pubs, when English rugby fans rub shoulders with delegates from the Sinn Féin ardfheis up the road at the RDS.

With a Sunday afternoon session on "equality and human rights", the republican movement will be too busy to watch the rugby. But as luck would have it, the ardfheis and the Six Nations championship end around the same time - possibly each featuring the triumphant waving of Tricolours - so the Horse Show House could be lively.

Gardaí are making no special arrangements to deal with the coincidence, however. "There'll be adequate security at both events, anyway," said a spokesman.