Ireland not interested in war of words with English says coach Simon Easterby

England defence coach John Mitchell claimed Ireland will try “to bore the s**t out of us” at the Aviva Stadium this weekend.

Eddie Jones has accused Johnny Sexton of having “the bat phone to the referee”, to add to previous attempts to unsettle Ireland’s talismanic fly-half.

Ireland forwards coach Easterby dismissed Mitchell’s comments as little more than attention grabbing, pledging that Joe Schmidt’s side will keep their cool and counsel.

“I think it’s a headline, I think if you look at the article and read a bit more about what he actually said, I don’t think it’s too much to read into,” said Easterby.

“We focus on what we do. We’re good at what we do.

“There will always be an opinion about whatever team is playing.

“However a team plays, no matter how good they are, how poor they are, there’s always going to be an opinion.

“We’ll take that in our stride and look forward to creating a game at the weekend which we feel we’re capable of.”

“It is what it is. I think it’s a bit of a headline and we’re just focusing on how good we can be come the weekend.

“Let’s see how the game goes,” added Easterby.