Game is the spur for Greenwood, England's midfield visionary

In this of all years, it is a day for the centre with perspective to savour. Tim Glover meets him

Asked for a prediction about the duel in Dublin, Will Greenwood replied: "I haven't got a clue, but I don't think England should be 2-1 on. Ireland are better value at 13-8 – not that I've looked.''

He was cocooned in a luxury hotel for most of the week, but the outside world invaded through TV and the internet. Greenwood logged on to, among other things, the Ladbrokes site. "I'm intrigued by prices and spreads from my days in the City,'' he said. "Gloucester are odds-on to win the Powergen Cup and Tiger Woods is 6-4 to win the Masters.''

Greenwood is not tempted by odds he considers irrational. "I only have a £1 tricast on the dogs, which is a throwback to my university days.'' He does the same numbers – one, four and six – every time and he has never won.

Greenwood has the right temperament to handle the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, which have been flying his way thick and fast this season. There was the death of his son Frederick, who was born prematurely. There was the death of his Harlequins team-mate, Nick Duncombe, at the age of 21.

Professional rugby is not the be-all and end-all for Greenwood, and it never has been, even though he was born to play. Today he will give everything to the cause, but more than most he has the Grand Slam event in perspective. Last week he also had time to look at the conflict in Iraq.

"One thing that I hold very dear about rugby is that, win or lose, you remain friends with the opposition. Afterwards we'll have a few beers. Tindall and Maggs are clubmates. They'll be trying to knock each others' heads off, but only for 80 minutes.''

Greenwood will wear No 13, as will Brian O'Driscoll. They roomed together with the Lions in Australia. Greenwood, who shared a flat with Austin Healey at Leicester, said: "Austin was a nightmare to live with, but O'Driscoll is even more disgraceful. It's as if he's never discovered cupboards.'' The winner takes all today, so a cupboard would be useful.

The two centres were at Lansdowne Road in 2001 when Ireland disarmed the Red Rose brigade. "We fell into a trap,'' Greenwood said. "They hurried us and we suffered. We were playing catch-up, and that suits them. You don't want to be playing catch-up at Lansdowne Road.''

Afterwards he drank with the Irish players, including O'Driscoll, and will do the same this evening. "We will talk about anything but rugby.''

Both players are naturals, gifted in different ways. "In a 100m race O'Driscoll would be 30-1 on,'' Greenwood said. "He'd beat me by 30 yards. The beauty of rugby is that it's not an athletics test.''

O'Driscoll as captain? "He's unbeaten. They've won 10 in a row. They are going to throw the kitchen sink at us, but they are more than a kitchen sink side.''

Greenwood admits that England have not been seen at their best in the championship. After beating France, he said: "What a load of rubbish.'' England scored one try, Greenwood's brilliant pass sending Jason Robinson over at the posts. Last week, his pass with a millisecond to spare to Ben Cohen led to Josh Lewsey's opening try against Scotland.

Greenwood, 6ft 3in and 15st, is a pass master and a scorer as well as a creator. Whereas O'Driscoll is Ireland's all-time leading scorer with 18 touchdowns, Greenwood has 22, one more than Cohen. There's a rivalry. "Ben's try against Scotland doesn't count. He only had to move a few yards. I'm not happy about his three against Romania either.''

On his last two visits to Cardiff, Greenwood scored four tries against Wales, which is probably more than the entire team managed in the Eighties. It seems to me that the presence of Robinson, who has to be guarded like Hannibal Lecter, gives others more freedom.

"The second you overmark someone you let others through,'' Greenwood said. "Jason will be marked like hell from a midfield scrum, and if you kick badly to him the alarm bells will be ringing. Crikey, you're always aware of him, but I don't think sides can afford to put two or three players on him. Having said that, when he's been on the field for us this season he's scored three tries. He's a pleasure to play with. It's exciting and enjoyable, and when you're in amongst it it's easy to lose sight of those two words.''

They were uppermost in his mind last season when England beat Ireland 45-11 at Twickenham, scoring four tries in 20 minutes before half-time. Greenwood, who scored two tries before exchanging jerseys with O'Driscoll, was the game's leading ball-carrier with 27 incursions. England delivered 22 passes to the wings, Ireland three. England missed one tackle out of 56, Ireland missed 42 out of 101.

Has the subsequent loss of the backs coach Brian Ashton to the National Academy interrupted the flow? Greenwood thought about it for a long time. "Brian's a top boy and has a lot to offer, but then so has everybody on the coaching staff.'' Ashton and Greenwood go back a long way. "When my dad moved to Italy in the Seventies Brian was my baby- sitter. After that he was my teacher at Stoneyhurst.''

Will's father is Dick Greenwood, the England coach between 1983 and 1985. Father and 17-year-old son played together for Preston Grasshoppers. Born in Blackburn 30 years ago, Greenwood graduated through Lancashire schools and Waterloo. The Red Rose goes with the territory. His parents and wife, Caroline, who has spent the week walking their Norfolk terrier Rufus in Norfolk, will be in Dublin today.

When Greenwood was on the Lions tour to South Africa in 1997 he was speartackled on to his head in a match in Bloemfontein and woke up in hospital in his kit. There were fears for his life. With the Lions in Australia he badly injured an ankle, leaving centre stage to O'Driscoll and Rob Henderson. "Unlucky,'' he said, "doesn't go with being a double Lions tourist.'' It's high time greyhounds one, four and six came in.