Hothead.

Irish Rugby legend Peter Stringer reckons Ireland will target England captain Owen Farrell in the Six Nations opener this weekend, who he has branded a “hothead” ahead of the huge encounter at the Aviva Stadium.

Stringer knows Farrell well from his time at Saracens, and says Ireland will look to “rattle” Farrell who he believes easily “loses the rag completely” when things aren’t going his way. The England outhalf “loves the physical side of things” according to Stringer, something that has been proven in recent months with his controversial tackling technique.

The former Munster and Ireland scrumhalf reckons Ireland will have the better of England in terms of discipline.

“Eddie will have them fired up, and you see the likes of Owen Farrell: he’s in charge of everything they do, being captain and having all that responsibility, but he is a hothead,” said Stringer, speaking at the launch of the AIB Future Sparks Festival 2019.

“If things go well for Farrell, on the front foot he’s a great player but going backward he’s a guy who loses the rag completely, which you don’t want from your captain.”

“I’ve played with him, he loves that physical side of things, but you can get under his skin, you can rattle him. He is a guy they’ll be looking to get after.”

“You can get under a lot of these guys, you can rattle them. Ireland’s discipline is very good, England’s not so much – they’ll be looking to start a scrap at every opportunity, just to rattle Ireland.”

Peter Stringer was speaking at the launch of the AIB Future Sparks Festival 2019 to be held in the RDS on March 14.