Andy Farrell has dismissed Eddie Jones' praise of Ireland ahead of the visit to Twickenham on Saturday.
The England boss has described Ireland as 'the most cohesive side in the world' and labelled them as favourites for the Six Nations clash.
But Farrell, who has named a side with six changes from the last fixture against Italy, is not engaging with Jones.
"It doesn't bother me whatsoever," said Farrell.
"I don't see what it does for or against you, it's just about us preparing properly.
"I also know that Eddie has said plenty of times in the past that praise makes you weak.
"We make sure that we take care of our own house and prepare properly over the coming days and be ready to perform."
Asked if there was a balance to be struck between respecting England's threat and going gung-ho into the clash, Farrell replied: "We respect every team that we play, as you know, but we certainly respect the challenge ahead of us going to Twickenham.
"Listening to Joe Marler's comments during the week, regarding him never thinking about being anything other than them being favourite at Twickenham, and rightly so....their record is very good there.
"It's a massive challenge but one that we're looking forward to."
Skipper Johnny Sexton returns for Joey Carbery at out-half, Bundee Aki replaces Robbie Henshaw at inside centre, Hugo Keenan is back in at full-back for Mike Lowry, Cian Healy gets the nod over Dave Kilcoyne for the loosehead role with Andrew Porter injured and James Ryan is back from injury in the second row for Ryan Baird.
Peter O'Mahony retains his place in the back row, with Farrell going for his line-out threat and physicality over Jack Conan, thus Caelan Doris remains at no 8.
"They're both great players but we just think the balance is right for this game," said Farrell, giving his reason for sticking with O'Mahony over Conan.
"Pete's in good form, not just physically but he's a good emotional leader for us as well.
"Leadership is a big part of every team performance.
"We obviously know what Pete brings in terms of the set-piece and the breakdown, but the rest of his game has come on an absolute treat.
"His attack stuff has really stepped up. I think he played really well against Italy, I also thought that Jack played really well coming off the bench and had a big impact, so the balance is right for this group."
Mack Hansen also makes way for the first time in his first Six Nations, with the experienced Andrew Conway returning and the more experienced James Lowe switching back across to take Hansen's place on the right wing.
"We've all seen it, haven't we, certainly the progression that we saw in autumn, the learnings that he (Lowe) had taken on board to be able to perform on the big stage at international level," said Farrell.
"It's something we want to see at the weekend.
"He's a big threat ball-in-hand, he also links very well, as does Mack. We all know that he's got a left boot on him as well.
"James being on the left wing and left-footed is a big advantage for us."
On Healy's selection over Kilcoyne, Farrell explained: "It's a good question because it's something that we've been toying with.
"Cian has obviously got experience and is champing at the bit for an opportunity, as is Killer.
"We feel that the combination at set-piece time is pretty important. With Cian there, he'll go hard and David will add impact when he comes on."
Farrell is clear on what he wants from his team in terms of a performance on Saturday.
"One that is themselves from the off and is relentless in the pursuit of getting back on track all the time, that can take the rough with the smooth and makes sure that we manage our way through difficult circumstances," he stated.
"It's a fact that's going to happen at Twickenham but it's learning through previous mistakes that we've made when we've been there and being ourselves for the full 80 minutes.
"We've got to make sure that they've got a bump in the road.
"You say that they're building through the competition but we've got to put a stop to that, haven't we?
"That's our intention, to go over there and prove to ourselves that there's a performance in there from us that's a step above what we've shown already."
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