Mark Cueto believes England are in the perfect frame of mind as they prepare to face Ireland at Twickenham.
England wing ready to silence the doubters at Twickenham
Mark Cueto believes England are in the perfect frame of mind as they prepare to face Ireland in a mouth-watering RBS Six Nations clash at Twickenham.
The two nations go face-to-face on Saturday with England still on course to claim their first Grand Slam title for seven years following victories over Wales and Italy.
Despite their unbeaten start to the campaign, the manner in which England defeated the Azzurri in Rome has drawn criticism from many quarters.
Fly-half Jonny Wilkinson bore the brunt of the blame for a lack of attacking ambition during the hard-fought 17-12 success.
But Sale star Cueto insists England have come away from Rome even stronger and are determined to impress against the Irish.
Positive
"Regardless of how well or how badly we have played, ultimately all that matters is the result. We are two from two, we can't be in a better position," Cueto said.
"We would maybe have liked to got here in a better way, but ultimately we are where we want to be.
"I think in a funny sort of way it is almost better to have two games where we have had to grind out results than to beat Wales at home and win comfortably in Rome.
"There would be a danger of looking forward to the Ireland game with a false sense of security of where we are as a team.
"Whereas the way the games have gone we are under no illusions about where we are, but we are in a positive position and we have plenty to be confident about and plenty to believe in.
"Every game is pivotal because you lose one game in this competition and everything goes down the drain.
"We are happy to have two wins and be on for a Grand Slam but every game is so important, so massive that you can't think beyond it."
England left the field at the Stadio Flaminio to a chorus of boos from the travelling fans, despite claiming victory.
And Cueto, who was one of England's better players in Rome, revealed that he too left the field unimpressed with the display.
Boring
"We just didn't play that well, we didn't do what we set out to," Cueto added. "The funny thing is that looking at the game since we played it, I have been a lot happier than when I was walking off the pitch.
"All I thought was that we didn't play any rugby, kicked the ball and it was boring but we actually made more linebreaks off counter-attack than we had in 12 months.
"There was a lot of kicking in the game but there were times we did make linebreaks. Maybe should have done it more but on the day we didn't quite get it right.
"Against Italy we showed better form than we have shown for a year or two - but in the same game we showed worse form than we have shown for a year or two.
"We are definitely looking for a better, more consistent performance."
