Ireland travel to London ahead of their Six Nations meeting with England with a clean bill of health after the squad came through training this morning unscathed.

Any lingering doubts over the fitness of Johnny O'Connor were put to rest as Eddie O'Sullivan put the players through their paces on Lansdowne Road's back pitch. O'Connor had missed the win over Scotland with a groin strain but was passed fit to take his place on the replacements bench earlier in the week.

With the Triple Crown and a possible Six Nations title on offer, Ireland go to Twickenham seeking a third successive win over Andy Robinson's side but Brian O'Driscoll remains wary of an English backlash following their drubbing in Paris.

"They’re going to be two very different performances," explained the Ireland captain. "There is a big difference in going to France and playing there and playing at Twickenham. The French played well and very little went for England. Two defeats for England is unusual in the Six Nations and they will want to make sure it’s not three.

"I expect them to up their performance at least 20 or 30 per cent. "Their defence is renowned for being pretty watertight, particularly at home, and I’m sure Phil Larder will be getting into them after last weekend."

Ireland and France go into the final round of matches with a chance of glory after one of the most open tournaments in recent years.

The critics point out the closely-fought nature of the championship is due to a lowering of standards in the northern hemisphere and that the southern hemisphere teams will be salivating at the prospects for next year’s World Cup.

O’Driscoll disagrees but concedes that many of the Six Nations teams are in a process of change as they set their sights on France in 2007.

"Defences have been very much on top in this competition," he said. "Some years you get attacks on top, other years you get defences on top. I don’t think it’s a concerning factor. It’s just happened that it’s been a very tight competition this year. No-one has really put their hand up and said they’re the best team.

"A lot of the teams in the Six Nations are going through a transition period. I think we’ve gradually been getting better with each game and hopefully that will continue this weekend.

"Although it’s not been spectacular rugby to watch, we go into the last weekend with an opportunity to win a Triple Crown and potentially to win a championship."