Johnson was captain when England clinched their last slam with a crushing 42-6 at the old Landsdowne Road which was also the last time they tasted victory in the Emerald Isle.

In fact, Ireland have become something of a bête noire for England with six wins in their last seven encounters for the men in green including a 43-13 victory four years ago at Croke Park - the Red Rose's heaviest ever Six Nations defeat.

England are already guaranteed their most successful Six Nations since their 2003 World Cup win with four wins in the bag and the Championship is almost within their grasp thanks to their 42 point advantage over second-place Wales.

With skipperMike Tindal out with ligament damage, the only survivor from England's last team to win in Ireland is replacement fly-half Jonny Wilkinson and he is under no illusions of the scale of the task ahead of them.

"It is going to be extremely tough to go there and win," said Wilkinson.

"We have had our best Six Nations campaign in a while, but we can still become a lot better.

"No one in the England camp underestimates how tough it will be to win there."

Nick Easter takes over the captaincy for England while the considerable frame of Matt Banahan plugs the gap left by Mike Tindall at outside centre with Saracens flier David Strettle coming onto the bench.

Ireland, meanwhile, are still smarting from their controversial 19-13 defeat to Wales which definitively ended their Six Nations title hopes.

Aside from Mike Phillips' try that never was, Declan Kidney's team have had a disappointing Championship with narrow defeats in Cardiff and at home to France as well as unconvincing wins over Italy and Scotland.

That defeat at the Millennium Stadium also killed off their bid for a fifth Triple Crown in eight years and Ireland will be keen to improve their record at their new stadium with three defeats in five matches so far.

Kidney has raised eyebrows by recalling Jonathan Sexton ahead of Ronan O'Gara while Andrew Trimble also makes his first appearance in this year's Championship.

"England have been impressive," said Kidney. "The rankings don't often lie and they are the top-ranked side in the northern hemisphere.

"This probably started for them with a good win in Australia last June, they backed it up in November and they have carried it through."