I'm flying over to Dublin this afternoon with the England squad, and I just can't wait to get on the pitch at Croke Park on Saturday.
I went on an England Under-15s tour to Ireland a few years back. We had maybe a few hundred people watching us at best for those games, so to say Croke Park will be a little bit different is something of an understatement.
"Croker", as the Irish call it, holds over 82,000 people and if I get on that'll be the biggest crowd I've ever played in front of. I was chatting to Wasps back-rower Tom Rees yesterday, who played there two years ago, and he said the atmosphere was just electric.
He was surprised at the noise because even though the stands are a fair way back from the pitch, the fans feel like they are really in your face.
Maybe the Irish fans save their most intimidating roar for when the English are in town? It's always a tasty fixture but at the same time I'm looking forward to the traditional Irish hospitality. Particularly if we win!
The Irish players themselves have always been pretty honest about the fact that they love beating England. But if we can take our game on a level from the Wales game in Cardiff then we have every chance.
Ireland's win against France possibly the game of the tournament so far so the the home fans will be wanting more of the same. Hopefully we'll keep them quiet.
The ankle I injured feels good. I did some running last Friday and some more on Sunday, a bit of agility work on Monday and then I was back in full training on Tuesday and Wednesday so I've had nearly a week now of proper training.
I didn't expect to come straight back into the team. Harry Ellis has done well in the two games he's started so it's no surprise that Martin Johnson has stuck with him.
I got injured at a bad time in terms of giving him a chance for this tournament. It would be nice to get on the pitch when we're winning but whatever happens I just want to make some sort of impact.
Brian O'Driscoll someone everyone wants to play against. We've all seen him play for the Lions too and he's a world-class player and someone to test yourself against.
Finally, what a result that was for my team Liverpool last night. I just sat down with a few minutes to go and said to my girlfriend "It'd be great if we scored now."
Bang, there was Yossi Benayoun! And we've got chance of making the quarter-finals now...
Hopefully on Saturday night we'll be celebrating a win for England. We can't wait for that whistle to go at Croke Park.
Cheers,
DC
