Their last clean sweep came in 1995 and since then England have fallen at the final hurdle three times, with one of those defeats arriving in the place of Sunday's winner-takes-all showdown: Lansdowne Road.

England's failure to win crunch games has been the thorn in their side in recent years, and their ability to hit top form away from fortress Twickenham is still in question.

Most pundits would agree that England are the best team in Europe and probably the world, but Woodward's men need a Grand Slam to mark their achievements of recent years.

Against Ireland they have the chance to lay their big-match demons to rest and with the World Cup just months away, they have never been better equipped to do just that.

The presence of Jason Robinson, Josh Lewsey and Ben Cohen mean they have pace to burn in the backs while centres Mike Tindall and Will Greenwood have hit a rich vein of form.

Half-backs Matt Dawson and Jonny Wilkinson are experienced performers on the international stage and England's juggernaut pack will ensure there will be no shortage of ball to play with.

Man-for-man, Ireland are not on the same level as England but as the French found out to their cost, playing at Lansdowne Road with the home fans in full voice is a daunting prospect.

England are the favourites and it is difficult to look beyond Martin Johnson and co exorcising their Grand Slam hoodoo.