By Jim Stokes BBC Sport

Mike Ford says the players now believe in his system

If England fail to chalk up another series of Six Nations tries on Sunday, it will all be down to the work of Lancastrian Mike Ford.

When there was a knock on Ford's door just over 15 months it was Ireland coach Eddie O'Sullivan looking for somebody to shore up his team's defences.

O'Sullivan had originally earmarked former GB great Ellery Hanley for the job, but it was Ford who was finally offered a short-term contract.

The soft-spoken Ford decided to leave ailing Oldham as coach and switch codes to join the long list of defence co-ordinators in the union game.

It was the last piece of the jig-saw in Irish coach Eddie O'Sullivan's back-room staff.

But twice last season Ford must have thought he had made the wrong decision as first England and then France cut open Ireland's defence.

I had told the players about it but against Scotland they actually experienced it Mike Ford

O'Sullivan's side leaked 89 points in those two games, much to the embarrassment of Ford.

Those two defeats did not put O'Sullivan off, however. In fact he was encouraged by the work that the hard-talking Ford was doing with the squad.

''Time will tell,'' said O'Sullivan. Time did indeed tell as Ireland's defence has remained the most stubborn in the Championship.

O'Sullivan's faith in Ford has paid off, big time.

Although Ireland shipped three tries against Wales last week, it was seen more than an aberration rather than a miscalculation of Ford's defence theory.

Statistics, of course, are the telling point, and in today's game where it is now all computerised on a laptop, Ford's work was all to obvious in Ireland's victory over Australia in November.

Ireland coach Eddie O'Sullivan had faith in Mike Ford

The Irish made 93 tackles and won eight turnovers, the top five tacklers in the game were all wearing green.

And not only did the home side keep the World champions from scoring, they kept them scoreless for the final 33 minutes. Not bad.

When Ford took the job he said it would take at least 12 months to get things right.

They are on the right track, particularly in the games against Scotland and France when no tries were conceded.

"We just defended, defended and defended," recalled Ford.

"I had been telling the players in training that under this system there will be situations when the opposition have the ball on our line and they won't be able to score.

''I had told the players about it but against Scotland they actually experienced it.

"I was really pleased with the boys," Ford said. "Especially with the contact and the aggression we showed was the best since I have been here."

Ireland may not have been ready to compete with England at Twickenham last season, but you can sure they will be set fair for Dublin on Sunday.

If Ireland win against such a potent attacking force as England, you can assume Ford's defence strategy has finally sunk in.