Kearney: St Patrick's Day adds spice

The St Patrick's Day celebrations will begin in earnest should the Irish storm Twickenham in the climax to the RBS 6 Nations on Saturday.

Recent history has seen Ireland dominate the fixture, winning seven of the last eight championship meetings including three of the last four in London.

With Saturday's winners finishing Six Nations runners-up - England chances of retaining their title are remote at best - Kearney hopes that record continues.

"If you are winning so many games against them it probably means you're a better side,'' said the Lions and Leinster full-back.

"I'd like to think that trend will continue on Saturday and that we remain the better side.

"England are probably outdoing themselves in this Six Nations in terms of the expectation levels they had coming into the competition.

"They have an inexperienced side and an inexperienced coaching panel as well, but they've outdone themselves and that victory in France showed what they can offer.''

Ulster flanker Stephen Ferris has accused England of being "bad losers".

And while Kearney insists France in Paris was the fixture he wanted to win most of all - Ireland could only draw 17-17 - he admits playing England still retains enormous appeal.

"I'm a lot more excited by this weekend because England is the one clash we all love and it is the one, being Irish, you get excited for,'' said the 25-year-old.

"The fact it's on St Patrick's Day just adds a little more spice to it.

"That huge rivalry we have with England will still be there in 50 years time.

"It is something we have built into us as Irish people and it's important to try and use that to our advantage this weekend.

"In the build up to the game we won't speak about the rivalry, but some things don't need to be said.

"That's not to say there's not rivalry against all the other teams because there is, but there's something about England fixtures that just spices things up.''

Kearney admits the fact England succeeded where Ireland failed by triumphing in Paris rankles.

One victory is all the Irish have to show for four decades of campaigning the French capital and they know they squandered a glorious chance to improve the championship's worst losing sequence.

"I was surprised England won in Paris. France are a difficult team to beat away, more so after they drew with us the week before,'' said Kearney.

"They were starting to build momentum, going into their third week in a row.

"I thought they'd play better but that's taking nothing away from England's performance - they did really well, taking their opportunities superbly.

"It annoys me that we only drew there. England entered half-time 14-9 up, while at the same point we led 17-6.

"They just managed to score in the second half and we didn't and that is ultimately what our draw came down to.''

Ireland are the Six Nations' most clinical side by some margin, fashioning 13 tries with Wales the next highest scorers on nine.

But frustratingly their title hopes, already battered by losing to the Welsh on the opening weekend, were extinguished with their stalemate against France.

"When I hear a stat like that, what jumps out at me is our discipline and defensive errors,'' added Kearney.

"We know we lost the Welsh game because of a poor defensive display and France kicked more penalties than we did.''

Kearney's own form has been outstanding and he would have been a contender for player of the tournament were it not for a nomination system that sees only those named man of the match shortlisted.

If a Lions Test team were picked today Kearney would be a certainty at full-back, although he remains grounded despite being the subject of rave reviews.

"I try not to pay too much attention to some of the negative stuff that gets written,'' he said.

"And if there are compliments that may go overboard, it's important not to take them on too strongly either. It's about striking a balance.''