Jeremy Guscott reckons England will have the edge in the battle of the centres on Sunday - but has tipped Ireland to win the war at Lansdowne Road.
The former Red Rose centre spoke to Ivan on Newstalk's Breakfast this morning, and looked ahead to a potential Six Nations decider in Dublin 4.
Guscott thinks England face a formidable opponent in Joe Schmidt's side, with the teams are due to be announced this afternoon.
"[England] are going up against a team that's been playing really well," he said. "Nine on the trot. Playing very well at Lansdowne Road. Good experienced players. A lot of Lions in that line-up as well ...
"Ireland have the edge because they have those senior players, because of their experience, and because they're playing at home, and because they're on a roll.
"So Ireland would be my favourite for this match on Sunday ... I would say Ireland [to win] by about five points."
Jared Payne and Robbie Henshaw go up against Jonathan Joseph and Luther Burrell in the centre and Guscott, a man who was a master in the same area during many an England-Ireland clash, had tipped his compatriots to come out on top of that particular match-up.
While acknowledging that the two pairings are "both relatively inexperienced", he added: "A pretty close match-up there but I just give it to England because of Joseph's attacking ability."
