Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt plays down the clash with England

Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt has moved quickly to play down the importance of the Six Nations clash with England on March 1.

The Irish have now won nine matches in succession, and victory over England in Dublin would equal the host team’s best winning run of all time.

"A game against England is our next one and that's what we're planning for," said Schmidt of the clash between the only remaining unbeaten teams in this year’s competition.

"I've got too much respect for my old mates Warren Gatland and Vern Cotter in Wales and Scotland, and I think that those two going head-to-head, one of those two teams will come back into the competition with a win and it's all on again.

"That's one of the things I think is fantastic about the championship: that it is so tight and so difficult to win, and you can never say that you've got your nose in front until you get to that end point."

Schmidt claimed he was not aware that Ireland were closing in on a record winning run, preferring to focus on avenging his side's last loss, a 13-10 defeat to England at Twickenham last February.

"I didn't know that was a record," said Schmidt.

"I do know it will be a year since we last lost to England and we'll be back facing the same foe, and it's one that I have massive respect for.

"They have a really well-balanced team, they are well-organised and well coached, and hopefully we can demonstrate a little bit of killer instinct and accuracy to get our noses in front.

"I thought their performance against Wales was probably better than anything we've produced so far, so we're going to have to be better again."