In an era where the demand for success is becoming insatiable, OSullivan thinks even an RBS 6 Nations championship win for England would not be an entirely satisfying end to the season for Sir Clive Woodwards world champions.

Winning every match is what counts, observes OSullivan - and England have not managed it.

There are more nations in the championship now, he said.

You play five matches overall and you get the Triple Crown for winning three of them, so I suppose it does dilute the achievement a little bit.

There is a bigger picture now and it seems just winning the championship is no longer enough. Its almost like you have to complete the Grand Slam just for it to mean anything.

Even if England beat France on Saturday and won the title it probably wouldnt feel as though they have completed the job.

That said, it is a good year for us when we can beat England, Scotland and Wales in the same season.

It has only happened six times in the past so I would still see it as something to celebrate.
Ireland will start as overwhelming favourites to beat a Scotland team who have lost all four matches under new coach Matt Williams.

Formerly in charge at Irish province Leinster, Williams has had a far tougher start to life as a national team leader than he could probably have envisaged.

They could not muster a point against France at Murrayfield last weekend and while Ireland need to hit the half-century mark to retain any hope of landing the championship themselves, it is not beyond the realms of possibility such a massive win could be achieved.

Despite the statistics, OSullivan remains wary. If there is one group of opposition players Williams knows plenty about it is Irelands. And OSullivan knows nothing would please the Australian more than beating the country he recently regarded as home.

Matt knows a lot about our players and that gives him a certain edge, said OSullivan.

Its something we cant do anything about so we have to deal with it. Scotland have had a difficult season but they tend to be at their most dangerous when they are underdogs, so while people can bring up all the statistics they like, we know things can go wrong - sport is very fickle like that.