England v Ireland: Gibson-Park feels a ‘brotherly rivalry’ has developed between the players after the Lions tour

Ireland’s Jamison Gibson Park says the bonds built during last summer’s British and Irish Lions tour to Australia have formed a “brotherly rivalry” between the Irish and English camps.

The two sides meet in their final Six Nations encounter at Twickenham on Saturday (14:10 GMT) and both sets of players will know each other well with 18 Irish and 15 English in the same Lions squad last summer.

While Test matches between nations have always been dominated by the age-old rivalry, Gibson-Park feels this rivalry has become stronger and now has a family feel between these groups of players.

“I think there was a little bit of friendship between us and me, which increases the rivalry,” the 33-year-old told reporters at this week’s press conference.

“When I think about the professional players in Ireland, they are my favorite matches because you know the players. I’ve talked about it before that it’s a bit of a brotherly rivalry.

“We played with these guys for a couple of months over the summer and got to know them really well, and they’re great guys. For me, it increases the challenge and the competition.”

Gibson Park had to make do with a place on the bench in Ireland’s win over Italy in Dublin last weekend with Munster’s Craig Casey getting the nod to start.

Naturally, the Leinster club player is keen to earn his 49th cap for Ireland as a starter this week, but he was happy to “bring the energy” as a substitute last week.

Ireland have opted to split their bench into six forwards and two full-backs for their opening Six Nations matches, and with that Gibson-Park feels it is essential for all players to be more versatile, even suggesting with a smile that he would be open to a different role in defence.

He added: “It is something we must pay attention to details and be prepared to do.”

“It’s part and parcel of playing 6-2, but I like to run down the wing.

“I enjoy it and it’s something I do a bit in training. In the weeks I’m not playing for Leinster, I try to run at full-back because in the end, that can help your game and give you more understanding, but I find it fun.”