Irish captain Rory Best expects to be fit for Saturday’s big Six Nations clash with England at Twickenham.

The Ulster hooker and fellow forwards Sean O’Brien and Donnacha Ryan are expected to shake off knocks ahead of the London fixture.

O’Brien missed last Saturday’s win over Scotland with a foot infection but should face the English.
Ireland team manager Michael Kearney said: “Sean was in hospital from Monday right through until the weekend and probably lost a couple of kilos of weight. But he is in good form.

“The medical staff will obviously monitor him during the week and certainly would be pretty confident he will be available for selection.

“He is back training and that is obviously a very good sign. The infection has cleared up which is obviously good as well and he is not on any antibiotics or anything like that. We are pretty sure he will be available for selection.”

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Best (ribs) and Ryan (shoulder) should also be fit as Ireland look to secure second place in the championship against an in-form England side that managed to beat France in Paris on Sunday.

Ulster flanker Stephen Ferris knows the enormity of the task ahead of Ireland.

Ferris said: “I’ve been fortunate to win with Ireland at Twickenham and I know that you have to be on top of your game to get a result.

“We are improving week on week and are happy with our set-piece, but we know England are strong there. They won’t concede any soft tries, like Scotland did, either.”