Ireland slipped to a 30-9 defeat in London last year with England dominating the set-piece after Mike Ross was forced off through injury and replaced by Tom Court, who endured a baptism of fire.

Ross was suffering from severe cramp after Ireland’s 30-22 victory in Wales last weekend but he played a full part in training on Tuesday and is expected to be in the starting XV, the naming of which has been put back to Friday as Declan Kidney has a number of fitness concerns, not least at inside centre.

But Smal believes that Ireland’s performance against Wales in the scrum, as well as their comprehensive victory in the autumn over Argentina, shows that they can handle the challenge England will present.

“Last year is last year and we've worked on a couple of things," said Smal.

“We showed against Argentina in the autumn and last Saturday that we can scrum.

“We know exactly what we're in for, it's going to be tough but I have full confidence in the players.”

England have the luxury of adding fit-again Manu Tuilagi to their centre options but Kidney has a headache in that department with both Gordon D’Arcy and Keith Earls suffering knocks against Wales.

Brian O’Driscoll was the stand-out performer in Cardiff but with D’Arcy carrying a leg injury and Earls a shoulder problem, it remains unclear who will partner him in Ireland’s midfield on Sunday.

And team manager Mick Kearney admitted O’Driscoll could move in one to inside centre.

“He presented kind of poorly enough post-game, but the prognosis at the moment is that he has a sore shoulder,” Kearney said of Earls.

“There doesn't appear to be any major ligament damage or anything like that, so the medics would be hopeful that he would be available.

“We would be hopeful that come Friday they'll all partake fully in training and be available for selection.

“Brian played in the first Test in New Zealand at first centre, so that's an option. Fergus McFadden played there for Leinster, so they would be the two options being considered at the moment.”