For Ireland now, playing England is like taking an exam where you expect to get an A without learning much

The worst defeat against England was a 79-0 loss to a very inexperienced Irish side in 2002, but unfortunately there’s a chance history could repeat itself tomorrow.

Please forgive me if I seem disrespectful to the players. I’m not. It’s just the facts. They have a fully professional team on their way to winning a World Cup and they want to send a message ahead of the showdown with France. Then you have Ireland, a team that already had a huge disparity in resources who are now lacking the players the Union has invested heavily in and who have the developed skills to potentially harm England.

Seven are absent due to the Sevens Series, with Sam Monaghan and Aoife Water also absent through injury. Seven more were drafted last week, but the problem isn’t the caliber of the remaining players, it’s the loss of consistency, cohesion, momentum and the harsh reality that our 15-game game has been starved of love, attention and investment.

It’s like someone locked the brakes and we had to stop the bus, passengers get off and new ones get on. There are new players who can make a difference, but they haven’t had much game time. Sene Naoupu and Michelle Claffey have been absent for three games and were only there for a one-day camp last week. But it’s not just about them adapting to the team – it’s the team adapting to them.

Tomorrow is likely to see the fruits of the RFU’s investment in 2014 – when it merged with the RFUW, taking over the Premiership and signing its players – and the contrast with Ireland, which has struggled in its attempts to fill the gap in the levitation is.

England have won 21 consecutive times and appear to have a World Cup under their belt. They invested in the game, believed in it and developed it.

As much as it kills me, we have to commend them for getting it right. They deserve this achievement, but all we want is for us to have the same structures here so that Irish players can one day reap those rewards.

The truth is England could pick three teams this weekend. They’ve turned so well over the past few weeks, scoring 50+ points on each side. They bullied Italy, were vastly superior to Wales and while the result against Scotland suggests defeat, Scotland held up well in the second half.

There are cracks in England’s armor and Ireland can look to this game to find them. You mustn’t be afraid of England. They have to match their physicality, an area where Monaghan is sorely missed with her presence, aggression and ability to punch holes. Who is stepping up to fill these footsteps? Linda Djougang, Neve Jones, Edel McMahon and Sene Naoupu (below) all have the ability. It’s time to put on the boxing gloves.

We have to stay on the ball and go through our phases. England can’t hurt us if they don’t have the ball. The line has to work and we have to get the simple things right, as we saw against Italy, except two or three levels up.

The scrum improved significantly that day, with the influence of John Fogarty becoming evident. The Irish women have prevailed against the UCC men’s varsity team and when you’re under that kind of pressure you’re constantly upping your game. We’ve seen good angles, low heights, great commitment and if we can be consistent in the scrum we get rewards from referees which builds confidence. We need that tomorrow – to get off to a good start, be consistent and build trust.

England collected 57 points against Scotland, 58 against Wales and 74 against Italy. For me, anything under 50 tomorrow would be a good day for the Irish.

This may sound terrible, but there must be more to this than the bottom line. It’s about playing 80 good minutes of rugby, taking care of the ball while keeping penalties and managing single-digit errors. Against England it’s like going into an exam with little study and looking for an A. We’ve only beaten England twice in 16 attempts but the line between success and failure for the Irish cannot be judged by who gets away with victory – not when the odds are against us.