Andy Farrell: England are going to come at Ireland hard

Ireland head coach Andy Farrell is braced for a full-throttle Twickenham showdown with England and acknowledges his side must improve to win it.

The long-standing rivals each retain hope of overhauling pacesetters France in the battle for Guinness Six Nations glory on the back of weekend wins.

Ireland had the luxury of a two-man advantage for an hour of Sunday's emphatic 57-6 victory over Italy, while Eddie Jones’ men survived a late scare in defeating Wales 23-19 the previous day.

Farrell – who was impressed by the English display against the reigning champions – believes both camps have much to consider ahead of attempting to keep their respective title hopes alive in a pivotal round-four clash on Saturday week.

"We know that they’re going to come hard at us," he said of England.

"Italy came hard off the line at times and we weren’t composed enough, so we need to be a little bit more accurate there.

"We know that they like to kick the ball for territory a lot, the same as what they’ve done for the last couple of seasons.

"I thought they were good (against Wales). I thought in the first half they were very dominant as far as territory is concerned and they kept the scoreboard ticking over.

"They thoroughly deserved their half-time lead and I suppose there will be plenty for them to ponder on in the next couple of weeks, the same as ourselves."

Ireland and England have each registered two wins and a loss so far, with the former higher in the standings courtesy of an additional bonus point.

Farrell’s men eventually ran in nine tries against the depleted Italians, who were reduced to 13 men in just the 19th minute due to a dubious law.

The loss of Gianmarco Lucchesi and replacement hooker Hame Faiva to injury and a red card