::The countries have met on 118 occasions - England lead the series 69-41, with eight draws.

::England's record win against Ireland was a 46-6 success at Lansdowne Road in 1997, while Ireland boast a best of 22-0 (Dublin, 1947).

::Ireland are bidding for a third successive victory over England on Saturday, having last achieved a winning hat-trick in the fixture from 1974 to 1976.

::The last drawn Test match between England and Ireland produced a 9-9 scoreline at Twickenham in 1968.

::Victory for Ireland on Saturday would secure a second Triple Crown in three seasons and their eighth in total.

::England have lost 12 of their 23 Tests since winning the World Cup in November, 2003, and seven out of 14 Six Nations games during that time.

::Three England players - centre Stuart Abbott, fly-half Andy Goode and hooker Lee Mears - will make their first Six Nations starts on Saturday.

::England boss Andy Robinson's decision to make eight changes is the most by a red rose coach since Martin Green did likewise following a 33-6 defeat against Scotland in 1986.

::England will have six members of their 2003 World Cup-winning squad on the replacements' bench this weekend, the odd man out being Newcastle fly-half Dave Walder.

::Ireland are viewed in many quarters as favourites to win at Twickenham, but there has only been away victory in 12 matches during this season's Six Nations - England's 31-16 success against Italy last month.