Ireland’s 33-10 defeat to France not only ended the defending champions’ Grand Slam bid but it also halted an impressive 13-match unbeaten run put together by Declan Kidney’s side.

But the Irish still hold an Indian sign over England in recent years with five wins in their last six meetings and O’Driscoll, who will be facing Lions teammate Riki Flutey in the midfield, believes Saturday’s encounter will be balanced on a knife edge.

He said: “England are never a bad side. Any time I’ve played against them and beaten them it’s usually been by one score or less, whether it be one or two points or five on a couple of occasions.

“That just shows you really have to be on your game if you’re to beat them. They showed two years ago over there what they can do.

“Now they’re starting to build some confidence. They’ve got two wins from two now, so it’ll be a tough game

“There’s nothing ever in the game. The only time there was ever anything in the game was that one time when they did beat us two years ago.

“Looking back on all the games we’ve had and we’ve won, we realise that we’ve played pretty well in them and tried to cancel out any attacking options England may have had.”

Full-back Geordan Murphy returns to international action for Ireland in the absence of the injured Rob Kearney while Declan Kidney has selected Jonathan Sexton over the experienced Ronan O’Gara at fly-half.

In the pack, the suspended Jerry Flannery is replaced by Rory Best and lock Donncha O'Callaghan comes in for Leo Cullen, who drops to the bench.

While Ireland were disappointing in defeat against France, England seemed to attract more criticism for their 17-12 victory over Italy.

Statistics made grim reading for the England hierarchy with 35m gained with the ball in hand while only 126 passes were completed compared to Italy’s 138.

But Steve Borthwick, who captains an unchanged starting XV, says the only statistic that counts is in the win column with one more victory equalling England’s best run in the Six Nations in six years.

He said: “Our job is to win rugby matches and develop as a team

“Pressure and criticism comes on this team, but we are a tight group, we go out on the training field and we work very hard.

“Ireland have had success, they have a level of cohesion, they have traits we want but we, as an England team, are developing our own way."