Safety concerns valid ahead of Ireland v England, says Bernard Jackman

Bernard Jackman says safety concerns ahead of Ireland's Women’s Six Nations clash with England are valid as the two sides are at the opposite ends of their development.

This is the first season that the Irish squad has been operating with professional contracts and based out of the IRFU's high performance centre, while a number of players ply their trade in England's Premier 15s league.

World number one side England, meanwhile, are a fully professional outfit and reached the World Cup final last year, a tournament that Ireland failed to qualify for.

Greg McWilliams' starting team for Saturday's match in Cork has a combined caps tally of 185 versus 485 on the English side. Ireland's bench has 57 caps worth of experience, while England's replacements have 209.

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"It could be unsafe, to be honest, in some way," the former Ireland and Leinster hooker told RTÉ 2fm's Game On.

"It's just a deficit of power. This isn't about the women's game.

"When I commented on this year on Ireland Under-20s against Scotland U-20s, I felt that was unsafe, so it's not unique to men's or women's sport.

"That Scotland Under-20s team didn't look to be anywhere near as physically well developed as the Irish team. They got a hammering [82-7] but also there were a few injuries, a few big injuries.

"That's where the worry is. This English team have been in physical development programmes for a long time.

"They are just bigger, stronger, faster.

"It's a big statement to make, 'it's unsafe', but there definitely