Kay - building towards crunch clash.

By Ben Kay

ENGLAND have their sights set on a Grand Slam showdown with Ireland on Sunday after their emphatic victory over Scotland in the RBS 6 Nations at the weekend. In his latest exclusive column with Tetley's, Official Beer of England Rugby, England star Ben Kay looks ahead to the winner-takes-all clash in Dublin.

OUR win over Scotland and Ireland's victory against Wales has put us exactly where we wanted to be going into the last game of the Six Nations.

Had Ireland lost against Wales, they could have been more dangerous.

Thankfully, they have got as much riding on this Sunday's game as we have and are under as much pressure as we are.

We went into the game against Scotland wanting to build towards our best performance of the season and I think we definitely took a step in the right direction.

Whilst we didn't play superbly well, it was another good scoreline – we got three tries and conceded none.

We expected the Scots to battle hard in the first half and, although they played well and caused us problems, we felt they were a lot more tired than we were going into the second half.

We felt we were in control and still had a gear we could move up. That's something we have been working on – playing at a very fast pace to tire out the opposition so that we can pull away in the later stages.

Unfortunately, my game ended with about 20 minutes to go. I got a bang to the top of my head which compressed my neck a bit and I felt really sharp pins and needles shooting down my arm.

At that stage, we were in a pretty commanding position. With Danny Grewcock on the bench and with a lot to play for in a week's time, it was felt that it would be better to bring me off. I'm pleased to say that it was nothing serious and I should be fit for the weekend.

Overall, I think everyone was fairly pleased with how the game went - and that we got through it and are set up for the Irish.

From my point of view, I was pleased with how well the line-outs went. Thankfully, we got it back on track after the disappointment of the previous two games. Steve Thompson's throwing was awesome.

What a great game we now have on the cards. It's going to be just like a cup final.

Our preparation this week is going to be vital. I think the players will be very professional about their recovery strategies, making sure they get their nutrition right and get a lot of rest.

It's important at this stage of the season that we resist the temptation to over train.

When there's so much at stake you want to make sure everything is perfect but you can't do that at the expense of your performance on the day.

We're as excited about this game as the supporters are. It's going to be massive.

I don't think an Irish team has ever lacked fire playing against England and this one certainly won't.

There are threats everywhere in their side – Geordan Murphy and Brian O'Driscoll stand out – and it's on their home turf.

It's ideal for us because we have the opportunity to go out there in World Cup year and prove to everyone that we can win in a hostile environment.

We've just got to make sure we don't slip up at the final hurdle again.