Ireland wing Keith Earls has heaped praise on team-mate Jacob Stockdale for continuing his outstanding form of last season.

The Munster man faced the press as the opening Six Nations clash with England approaches.

His fellow wing, Stockdale, shone in the 2018 Six Nations as a try-scoring threat. And he remains as effective as in his debut season.

"He's doing it with Ulster as well. It's great to see him carrying on that form," said Earls.

"It wasn't just a first season thing. I know people talk about second season syndrome when everyone gets to know you and teams start to mark up on you.

"But he seems to keep doing it, so it's great to see him in the form he's in.

"Massive momentum-wise"

"Especially, he had a bit of an injury at the start of the season and he's just exploded again. It's great to see that."

Earls also dismissed any talk of England struggles.

"They don't have much to improve on. They've had a couple of rocky results but I don't know why people suddenly think they've gone downhill a small bit," said Earls.

"They're still a top quality side, narrowly losing to New Zealand in November and a couple of good results in November.

"We know what to expect from them. It's always a massive, physical game and we're definitely not looking at their form. We know what they're well capable of. As I said, we've seen it in November and it's going to be a massive game."

He added that the match is "massive momentum-wise".

Ireland open their Six Nations campaign against England on Saturday at the Aviva Stadium. Keep an eye on our social channels for pre-match and post-match analysis and interviews.

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