O'Connell wants Irish to respond to 'hostile' Twickenham

Ireland will have to learn by doing when they face England and there's little that can prepare them for the cacophony of noise when the home side hit a purple patch, says Paul O’Connell.

Andy Farrell was just three games into his tenure in 2020 when Covid-19 struck and all but nine of his 22 matches in charge have been played out in empty or limited-capacity stadia.

The 30-24 loss in Paris two weeks ago would have, for many, been their first taste of a hostile away crowd.

For the likes of Hugo Keenan, Mack Hansen, Dan Sheehan, and Jamison Gibson-Park, this was a new experience and many players have spoken specifically about the 'electric' atmosphere at the Stade de France.

Caelan Doris, who was on the bench against England two years ago, Craig Casey, James Hume and James Lowe, also have limited game-time in international matches with a crowd, with Twickenham on equal terms as Paris in terms of noise.

"It is a very tough place to go to," said O’Connell, who won three of his six games as a player against England at that venue.

"You have that drive in through the West car park and the crowds having their lunch or whatever they have there before they go in. And then you walk in through the crowd.

"It’s a massive stadium. In fairness, there is a great atmosphere there and they do react well to the team playing well. They do get behind them.

"So it is a tough place to go and win to be sure. My experiences there were good and bad. We took some bad beatings there but we had some great days there as well.

"It’s probably no different to Paris for us. It’s something that some guys have to acknowledge that they haven’t a lot of experience of, you know, due to Covid, there isn’t a lot of experience of these away games in hostile environments