Ireland willing to go to 'dark place' against Red Roses, says Declan Danaher

Ireland have plenty of players ready to go to a "dark place" when they face the daunting task of taking on perennial Women's Six Nations champions England, says Declan Danaher.

The Red Roses host Ireland at Twickenham looking for an astounding 28th championship win in a row. Their last defeat came in 2018.

A crowd of over 40,000 is expected at the London venue with Ireland massive underdogs. There’s little talk of victory out of the Ireland camp this week with players and coaches targeting a performance to build on last weekend’s win over Wales.

John Mitchell’s England side have already racked up 24 tries in comprehensive victories over Italy, Wales and Scotland, while conceding just one.

"We know the challenge that awaits us, it’s going to be pretty relentless both sides of the ball," defence coach Danaher told reporters after a team with two changes was announced.

"It’s a race. They want to get set, we want to get set, we’ll see how long we can stay in the fight and we’ll go from there.

"What’s the best way to describe it? There’s a lot of dog, a lot of people willing to put themselves into a dark place to help the team.

"I wasn’t there last year but I can imagine, having worked with the girls now, where they are willing to take themselves when they put that green jersey on.

"We’ve been asking for performances, and we’ve done that in every game we’ve played.

"We’re playing England and we know the threats that come with playing against them.

"When the game is finished, we want to know if we’ve put in another performance that we are proud of, have we grown again as a group, and sometimes that comes with positives but sometimes with learnings.

"I wouldn’t say [our aim is] consolidation, it’s continuing to grow as we go week to week