Paul's Diary: Sled-Pulling And Lineout Trends

Sidelined Ireland lock Paul O'Connell gives an insight into his recovery from the knee injury which forced him out of the RBS 6 Nations, and talks about the England match and his time away from the pitch.

Munster physiotherapist Dave O'Sullivan - he came from the Leeds Rhinos rugby league club - is continuing to work me hard in terms of my rehabilitation on the knee injury, in fact harder than I thought from the start with a knee injury of this nature.

I was doing some leg weights last week and this week, he's added some sled-pulling to the regime. I'm still wearing the brace - it'll be on for two weeks - but I'm feeling very good.

I have watched a few games on DVD for analysis purposes and to keep an eye on lineout trends and the like: Super 15, Aviva Premiership and some of Munster's matches.

I have been able to spend a lot of time mucking around with my son Paddy, which I think has been good for both of us.

I don't know as yet where I will be watching the England v Ireland game but it won't be in a pub and I'm definitely not going to London.

My preference would be to watch the game with a couple of friends. I like the banter. It'll be a massive occasion, a resurgent England team, in front of their own crowd, against an Ireland side that's improved throughout the campaign, taking place on St. Patrick's Day.

England will be very physical, something they always bring to a match, irrespective of what form they are in and I'd expect them to be very combative in terms of the collisions and set pieces. I'd expect it to be a really great spectacle.

I'd like to wish the Ireland Under-20s, Women's and Club teams the very best of luck in their games against England, a case of more of the same (from last week when there was a clean sweep).

Speaking ahead of Ireland's final RBS 6 Nations match against Italy, hooker Rory Best said: "We took a lot of positives from the France game, we'll take those forward and build on them. We can potentially finish third in the Championship and we're looking to end the campaign with a good win in Rome."

Speaking ahead of Ireland's upcoming RBS 6 Nations encounter with France, prop Mike Ross said: "We were enormously frustrated after the Scottish game. We're playing at home (this Saturday), it's a big source of pride for us. We want to get back to winning ways. Even though the Championship is gone, it's our home patch and you want to win every time you pull on the green jersey."

Irish Rugby TV caught up with Jenny Murphy at the Ireland Women's Sevens training camp. We spoke to the centre about the pool draw for the Rugby World Cup Sevens in Moscow, the difference between Sevens training and regular training and we look forward to the game against France at Ashbourne RFC on Friday.

Speaking ahead of Ireland's upcoming RBS 6 Nations clash with France, hooker Rory Best said: "We still have two games left to play and we have to make sure we finish well. It's going to be a tough challenge against France. But we're back at home, it's a sell-out and we need to make sure we put away the chances we create more efficiently than we have done."