Ugo Monye: I'm gunning for my Lions pal Tommy Bowe

He is one of the most charming guys you will ever meet.

While it will be a full-on battle from the first whistle to the last, after the match I will make a point of catching up with Tommy and all of the Irish guys who were on the tour because we have created special friendships.

Tommy was always smiling in South Africa and had a constant spring in his step which was infectious. Funny things seemed to happen to him all the time which meant he always had loads of stories to tell.

I got to know Ronan O'Gara and Brian O'Driscoll well, along with Paul O'Connell, the Lions captain, and it was great to share a room with Irish lock Donncha O'Callaghan, who is now fit and able to take his place in a very good team.

Ireland did lose against France 33-10 but we all know this is a very dangerous side and anyone who thinks that performance in Paris will be repeated is highly mistaken.

That was merely a blip for Ireland and it made big headlines because they created such high standards last season while winning the Grand Slam and the majority of the starting XV went on the Lions tour. Because they have been together for so long, they are very well equipped to bounce back from the loss by France.

Our aim is to pose the same kind of threats we showed against Italy but we want to be more clinical and finish off the chances and line-breaks that were created.

Hearing the final whistle and seeing an England win on the scoreboard is my only focus and I really don't mind by how many points. A third successive victory does open up a lot of possibilities but I cannot afford to start thinking that far ahead.

Ireland will cause us problems tomorrow. However, we are well equipped to handle that.

My preparation is very important and the weekly pilates class I do at the England team hotel is brilliant for helping me build up to a Test match.

Steve Borthwick, Louis Deacon and Ben Foden also take part in the 45-minute sessions which are a great help with my back, keeping everything ticking over nicely. It balances me out and makes sure I use the right muscles.

I suppose I could try to drag my room mate Danny Care, who I'm rooming with for the third time, away from his video games to take part.

I like to think that we are still in the honeymoon period — Danny and I have had no arguments yet — although there is a danger of a triangle being created because of my close friendship with Delon Armitage, so I am having to split my time between both to keep them happy!