INTERIM boss Simon Easterby expects Dublin to be “bouncing” for Ireland’s Six Nations curtain-raiser against England.

A capacity crowd of just under 52,000 awaits Steve Borthwick side at Lansdowne Road as the hosts begin their pursuit of a third-consecutive title.

While Ireland have an enviable home record since permanent head coach Andy Farrell succeeded Joe Schmidt after the 2019 World Cup, winning 28 of 30 fixtures, recent matches at Lansdowne Road have often taken place in subdued atmospheres.

Easterby challenged his players to ensure supporters were fired up on Saturday evening.

“I don’t expect this place to be anything other than bouncing,” he said.

“It is England at home, first game of the Six Nations. It is so exciting to have this first up.

“When we play well and give the crowd that type of experience on the pitch, they have bought into it and generated a great atmosphere.

“So we have a responsibility as a team to ensure that we get the crowd onside and use that to our advantage.”

Meanwhile, Maro Itoje said on Thursday night that England are “ready to go” as they target an upset victory over Ireland that would launch their Six Nations in style.

Itoje leads the team for the first time after taking over the captaincy from Jamie George and has been presented with a daunting first assignment.

But the Saracens second row insists that England have the firepower to take on the Six Nations favourites.

“We’ve prepared well, the boys have trained well, and we’ve come together quite nicely. We’re clear on the plan. We’re ready to go,” Itoje said.

“It’s a really big task. Obviously Ireland are a very good team. They’re a team that in their recent history have put together a string of notable performances.

“They have quality players and continuity, more so than most other nations due to the Leinster connection.

“They’re a team full of good players, and they have that strong Leinster core to what they do and their selection.

“It’s a team that’s played together before, a team that know what they’re about. But we’re a good team too.”

England have taken the bold step of picking three opensides in their back row with Tom and Ben Curry flanking number eight Ben Earl.

It is a loose trio that can take Ireland on at the breakdown and look to gain an edge on the hosts through work rate and mobility, but a concern is that their selection denies the team an extra line-out option at blindside flanker.

For the last two Six Nations England have possessed the most successful line-out and Itoje is confident it will continue to deliver, even without the extra target for hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie.

“We have enough line-out jumpers. The line-out is a massive part of the game, and we have a well-oiled machine,” Itoje said.

“If you were to look at our statistics over the last autumn, it’s an area that we’re pretty strong at in terms of ball winning.

“Ireland have got a good line-out, they’ve always had a good line-out. We’re built differently, we want to go about the game in a different way, but the set-piece is massive for us as well and I think we’ll do well.”

Ben and Tom Curry will realise a boyhood dream when they play together for England for the first time, becoming the first male twins to do so.

They were picked in the same matchday 23 against New Zealand last autumn but Tom, who starts at blindside flanker on Saturday, was replaced by Ben around the hour mark.

“It’s really exciting. I’ve wanted to play with Tom for a long time. It’s one of those where it’s really nice in the build-up, really nice before it,” Ben Curry said.

“And I’m sure it’ll be really nice after the final whistle, but between the whistles you just want to win.”