Emmet Moloney writes for the 'Farmers Journal' and is a former sports columnist with 'The Kerryman'.

Motivation is never a problem when the English rugby team comes to Ireland. There is only one place to be this Saturday evening, and that’s Croke Park. Emmet Moloney sets the scene...

I’m always nervous when Ireland are favourites for anything. It’s a mantle that never sits well with us. While I still think we will beat England on Saturday, the match against Scotland the week after has trouble written all over it. The Scots won’t be afraid of us, and the sight of a green jersey in Murrayfield doesn’t carry the same threat as a French, Welsh or English shirt. You see, the Scottish have a long history of beating us. So do the English, but they’re different.

We have numerous advantages over the English. First and foremost is the rather obvious fact that they are English. The Tans, the poor craturs, are on everyone’s hit list. No matter what the sport, the whole world wants to beat England – a throwback to days of the Empire, no doubt. Of course, this state of affairs says more about the rest of us than it does about the poor old English. It’s an inferiority complex, but it drives us on. We need it and we feed off it. In sport, it has been a major incentive for our countrymen.

And there’s nothing wrong with a little bit of an inferiority complex when you come from a small island nation, cut off from Europe and living by your wits. But enough of the DeValera speak – we lost our inferiority complex for a few years, and look where it got us: the edge of an economic abyss.

It’s times like these that we need our sporting heroes. The country needs a lift, and any success now would be magnified. We need the Saturday night out on the strength of it. “Did you see the match? Jaysus, t’was great, wasn’t it? O’Connell would bate them on his own! Are ye havin’ a drink?” Now that sounds a lot better than the usual conversation opener: “This recession is cat. The whole country is f**ed. Are ye buyin’ me a drink?”

For the feelgood factor alone, victory would be savoured more than usual. In this year of years, it would only be right if Ireland won the Grand Slam, Mayo won the football and anyone but Kilkenny won the hurling. Sport plays a part in the hard times. It can lift us, however briefly, and make us feel patriotic without having to do all our shopping in the Republic.

Our other main advantage over the English is that we are better than them. Important one, this. If we play at anything close to our top form, we will win by 10 to 15 points. We also have the build-up, anthems, and the Croke Park effect in our favour. That’s what worries me. We can’t lose. All the experts will pick us. The public demands, expects and needs an Irish victory. That’s a lot to deal with. We can’t trot out the Bloody Sunday connotations and the God Save The Queen ironies, either. Into all this mix the team must perform. It won’t be easy.

Declan Kidney has proven himself a master of psychology and intuition for most of his career. This Saturday is a real test of those qualities. Whatever about the clichés given out on autopilot at press conferences –‘We’re expecting a huge test. We’ll take a one-point win. We’re only looking to the game on Saturday’’ – his main job will be coming up with a gameplan that works on Saturday night. It has to be a plan that involves the crowd early on, takes some of the sting out of the English team and sets the tone for the next 80-odd minutes.

Sounds simple, but the English are a strong side. Big men usually like to prove it in the opening minutes. That’s when the big hits go in. Missed tackles tend to come later in a match, when the body starts to feel the wear and tear. There is no wear and tear in the first 10 minutes.

But I have faith in Deccy. Many of us felt he got it wrong in not appointing Paul O’Connell captain, but we got our answer. O’Driscoll looks like his old self, and O’Connell is leading from the front anyway. Deccy read it right.

No one will underestimate the visitors. Two years ago, they got a bit caught up in the Croke Park occasion. Not this time. They showed enough form against Wales to suggest they have turned the corner, and some of them will recall the beating they took in 2007. That’s powerful motivation. Just watch Waterford sow it into Kilkenny this Sunday. There’s nothing like a previous beating to inspire a team.

Kidney will keep the same team. Despite the unfortunate run of facial injuries suffered by Paddy Wallace, he is still the best option to start. For a game like this, you need some ammunition on the bench, and Gordon D’Arcy is a bullet to be fired when the game opens up. We’ll beat them.

But we shouldn’t expect anything like the match two years ago. Back then, the English arrived in Dublin as extras in a big production. They seemed to know their roles then: whipping boys; revenge for Skibbereen and all that. This time, I suspect they will be a tougher nut to crack.

For the sake of stirring something up, I’m sure we’ll be reminded of Martin Johnson’s snub of President Mary McAleese in Lansdowne Road back in 2003. I think Johnston got a raw deal back then. If an Irish captain had done the same in Twickenham, Christy Moore would be writing songs about him.

But paper takes ink. It will be rehashed and discussed on TV, radio and the newspapers. But not in the Irish dressing room. We won’t need it. We’re never short of reasons to beat the British. I’m far from xenophobic, but I do belong to the school of thought that says you can’t bate the English half enough. I suspect I’m not alone.

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