On Rugby: Here we go, here we go, here we go, off to jolly Twickers on Cheltenham week and St Patrick's weekend, with our leprechaun hats, sniffing a Triple Crown and England seemingly at their lowest ebb in aeons. All very giddy.

Dangerously giddy. But let's not get carried away. It's true that Ireland are coming off what was probably their most sustained 80-minute performance of the campaign, and have the benefit of an extra day to recuperate from the rigours of their efforts, whereas England, retreating from Paris with their tails between their legs, have a day less to regroup.

Unlike England, Ireland are entitled to a healthy level of self-confidence.

They have the more tangible reward of a Triple Crown, which may not have the mystique of yore but still means more than most to a country with only seven to their name, while depending on France's result in Cardiff beforehand, there is the more remote shot at the title.

On what could be the final curtain call for their beloved Scott Johnson, the Welsh team will assuredly give his brand of champagne rugby one almighty final throw - possibly from everywhere on the pitch. But while France may start campaigns in a laissez-faire mode, they tend not to finish them that way, least of all when there's a title in their sights.

Ireland have also won their last two meetings with England, and thus are chasing their first hat-trick of wins over them since the five-in-a-row of 1972 to 1976. And it's a testimony to the contrasting health of both teams that Eddie O'Sullivan will assuredly name an unchanged side.

Far more revealing will be the hand Andy Robinson reveals today. Even if his hamstring allows him to play, what can Charlie Hodgson's head be like after his performance sank without trace in the first half in Paris?

Robinson may go with a Leicester triumvirate of Martin Corry at eight, Harry Ellis at nine and Andy Goode at 10.

Goode has a massive boot, and if this selection also goes hand-in-hand with a recall for the destructive scrummaging of Andrew Sheridan it may well signify a change in tack to even blunter, more basic, forward-orientated methods.

Robinson and his stale-looking coaching regime could be drinking at the last chance saloon, and perhaps a few of the team as well. But what was most striking in the aftermath of their crushing defeat in Paris was the utterly candid self-assessment of head coach and players alike.

Admitting they were "awful", Robinson bravely assumed full responsibility for the performance.

There aren't many coaches who would do that. Provided he hasn't lost the dressingroom, it would be no surprise if England retreat into their bunker this week, say nowt, and come out in redemptory mood next Saturday.

Although their scrum buckled, their front-up tackling was flawed, their midfield limitations (quite how Ayoola Erinle isn't in the mix, even as potentially one of the world's best impact replacements, is a mystery) were compounded by Hodgson's apparent attack of nerves, and they made not one line break in the match, one has to respect their forward power, all the more so if Sheridan starts. Certainly, England will be far more physical in the lineouts and scrums than Scotland were.

Lest we forget too, England are returning to Twickenham after three away games in a row and there's only been one away win to date in this non-vintage year.

What's more, in their one home game to date they punished Wales up front for an hour and then broke clear, with a six tries to one, 47-13 win.

Ireland will hardly scale the aerial heights of last Saturday in the lineout or indeed Twickenham two years ago. They assuredly won't have as much ball and territory as they did against the Scots.

It's hard to be critical of a team's discipline when they only conceded five penalties, but it didn't help that Chris Paterson's three first-half three-pointers were all cheaply conceded; Geordan Murphy dangling from a ruck and playing a ball he should have left alone, Malcolm O'Kelly running across as a blocker in front of David Wallace at a restart and Gordon D'Arcy breaking the defensive line and being adjudged offside - admittedly a marginal call.

Ireland still need to improve their ability to attack space rather than tacklers, and to look for and execute more offloads, particularly in the softer, wider channels, if teams like Scotland aren't to have the time to regroup with each recycle.

On a drier day perhaps Murphy's pass to Andrew Trimble, or offloads such as his to O'Kelly and Brian O'Driscoll's to Peter Stringer, would have stuck, and maybe Saturday wasn't the day for that. Nevertheless the failure to press home close-range pressure and the lack of incision from the backs off set play, especially through the middle, has been a recurring theme.

Ireland retain a tendency to over-run the ball in their anxiety to press home close-range pressure, and in general to play a little too laterally, with ball carriers such as D'Arcy and David Wallace often taking the ball almost standing still. Jim Telfer, for one, has observed that Ireland were still doing the same things in the last minute which they were attempting in the first, when D'Arcy over-ran a fractionally delayed pass by O'Driscoll.

For variety perhaps more use could be made of Shane Horgan and Andrew Trimble (both converted centres) through the middle from deep. In the 12-phase build-up to the O'Gara penalty which made it 12-9, Trimble was twice the most effective carrier up the middle, and in a rare midfield sortie, the in-form Horgan provided quick target ball in the prelude to the Trimble opportunity.

While there were welcome glimpses of it on Saturday, Ireland could also use the blindside more through Peter Stringer and particularly Murphy.

Ireland have a great opportunity this Saturday, for sure, but in the heel of the hunt, it has still been something of a curate's egg of a season. They are merely where most people expected them to be, with three home wins against the table's bottom three. The surprise is to find England at such a low ebb. But how low will they be at Twickenham next Saturday?