ODriscoll missed the successful second leg of Irelands RBS 6 Nations Grand Slam bid at Murrayfield after failing to recovery from the hamstring problem he sustained during the championship opener against Italy.

The 26-year-old centre resumed full training earlier this week and was named in the Triple Crown holders line-up on Wednesday, winning his 57th cap and relieving Paul OConnell of the leadership duties.

And it was the burning desire to meet the ailing world champions at Lansdowne Road on Sunday which has driven ODriscoll during his two-week battle against injury.

The knowledge that the England game was coming up really helped during rehab. The will to play in this game was enormous - it doesnt get much bigger than England at home, he said.

The way weve been playing and Englands losing streak have teed things up nicely and that was also important. I promised that I would give myself every chance of making this match.

Ireland coach Eddie OSullivan reported that ODriscolls fitness would be monitored closely in the build up to Sunday but the Leinster back dispelled any doubt he would feature in the crunch encounter.

Im 100% certain to play. I feel good and have been running around without any problems. Im wary of overdoing it because I want to be nice and fresh for Sunday. The two weeks of hard work have paid off - at least I hope they have, he said.

ODriscoll endured the ice chambers of Spala, Poland, last week to give himself every chance of beating the injury and the British Lion admitted his time at the rehabilitation centre was profitable.

He said: The process we went through in Poland doesnt speed up your recovery, instead it helps you complete more training in one day so you end up getting more work done which is beneficial to the healing process.

It was intense but I think it worked a treat, although that may have been partly because I was able to get away from everything and not have to worry about being in Dublin at certain times.

I was left alone because rugby isnt that big in Poland.