England flop all over the ball, illegally snuffing out Irish moment.

A penalty to Ireland and Paul O'Connell decides to take the three rather than batter away for five.

Johnny Sexton to kick and it is no more than a warm-up punt...

Desperate defence from England. Luther Burrell is buried under a mound of bodies, keeping the ball off the floor and buying his side at least a partial breather. Scrum five Ireland though and this is a big chance...

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Ireland are working England over. Wave after wave, phase after phase and they are up to within five metres of the tryline...

Brian Moore
Former England hooker on BBC One

"You've got to come in from behind the back foot. Vunipola comes in at the side and relieves all the pressure on Ireland."

Billy Vunipola fails to come through the gate at the back of the ruck and England concede another penalty as they chase up the kick-off.

They need to get on the right side of ref Criag Joubert.

A sonic boom of boot on ball as Johnny Sexton sends the ball soaring into the distance. It is bang on target and Ireland make the first impression on the board.

Ireland are making yards on each phase, eating up the ground to get back up to halfway. James Haskell then fails to clear out of the way of Conor Murray at the back of the ruck. Penalty chance and Johnny Sexton points to the sticks...

Here we go then. England to kick us off and George Ford stares into the middle distance before kicking deep. Simon Zebo gathers.

Anthems time and England are the losers in both quality and quantity.

A short sharp version of God Save the Queen is followed by Ireland blasting out both Amhran na bhFiann and Ireland's Call.

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Jack Nowell, who was very solid in the centres for Exeter last week, is restored to the England team at the expense of Jonny May.

He certainly has more flamboyance in the hairdo department than the Gloucester man. Shaggy at the back, a savage undercut and a sideways swept fringe - there is a lot going on there.

England head coach Stuart Lancaster has made two changes from the side that beat Italy last time out.

Alex Goode is in at full-back for the concussed Mike Brown, while winger Jonny May makes way for Jack Nowell.

Jordi Murphy replaces the injured Jamie Heaslip at number eight in Ireland's sole change to the starting XV to face Engla

Tommy O'Donnell and Eoin Reddan replace Murphy and Isaac Boss respectively on the bench.

As the teams emerge for the laborious pre-match handshakes that are part of every Ireland home international, time for our own pre-match presentation.

Ireland first up...

Sir Clive Woodward
Former England coach on BBC One

"England have started well [in games], just not on the scoreboard. As a coach you're feeling good even though you're 10 points down."

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It was in Dublin in 2003 that England last laid their paws on the Grand Slam, but not before Martin Johnson had caused a minor diplomatic incident.

The England skipper led his team out first and lined them up, deliberately or not, on Ireland's lucky side of the red carpet.

Instead of taking the unlucky end of the carpet, Brian O'Driscoll lined Ireland up off the end of the rug.

An official asked Martin Johnson to budge up. He refused.

The result was that Ireland president Mary McAleese had to dirty her shoes by trudging along the turf to shake hands with the Ireland players.

Denis Hickie
Former Ireland winger on BBC Radio 5 live

"Johnny Sexton came back into the side for the French game after three months out and had a man of the match performance. His rapport with Joe Schmidt is well known and he controls the game for Ireland and it shows what an important player he is for Ireland. His battle with George Ford will be a defining one today."

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One man to look for in amongst the mob of Ireland players chasing any sky-scraping bombs from Johnny Sexton's boot will be Jared Payne.

Ferocious in defence so far in the tournament, the Ulster centre got a little too eager playing for Ulster against Goode's Saracens in the Heineken Cup quarter-final last season, upending Goode and earning himself a red card.

Softly, softly, don't catchy Goode.

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With Mike Brown recovering from concussion, Saracens' Alex Goode has been brought in at full-back for England.

Goode's last Test start was almost two years ago in the 2013 Six Nations defeat by Wales.

We should find out if there is still any snow in that Dublin sky with some of the towering up-and-unders that are surely heading his way.

Image source, BBC Sport

South Africa, France, Australia and Argentina are among the scalps on Ireland's recent run. England's 13-10 win at Twickenham in last year's Six Nations was their most recent defeat.