Played in aid of the Irish Rugby Football Union Charitable Trust and other charities, Corry will lead out an England team including his former Leicester Tigers colleagues Tim Stimpson and Austin Healey at Donnybrook in Dublin on Friday (7.30pm).
“I’m looking forward to it,” says Corry. “It should be a cracking weekend.
“We lost to Ireland last year and we lost to South Africa so we’ve not exactly covered ourselves in glory, but we’ll give it another go this weekend.”
Corry ended his professional playing days in 2009 after a glittering career which saw him lead club and country, but he says he has kept up his training in retirement.
“I always enjoyed my training and I’ve kept up with it, though it’s not rugby specific any more,” he says. “It is hard to replicate the impact of the scrums or smashing into a ruck when you’re on a rowing machine or a bike! Let’s say match fitness may be slightly lacking.
“Last year it was 14 guys in white shirts plus Jason Robinson, he was incredible. We’re going to miss Jason, but Josh Lewsey played against South Africa and he still looked fit and keen. And it will be interesting to see how much of the Austin Healey 'spark' still remains.”
Corry will come up against former Tigers team-mate Paul Burke, who is now on the coaching staff at the club and is included among the Irish Legends for a second successive year.
“Burkey defended really well last year,” says Corry. “To be fair, that is probably more of a reflection on us and the fact we’ve lost so much power and we can’t run over him any more!”
While Corry maintains the Legends match is very much the big draw for the weekend, he will also have one eye on ‘the other game’ in Dublin on Saturday.
“The Six Nations game will be a touch of ‘after the Lord Mayor’s show’ following the Legends game, but hopefully England can win it and make it a memorable weekend,” he says. “I think England can win, though they have to play better with slow ball than they did last weekend because Ireland are the masters at slowing ball. Hopefully they will have learned from the Scotland game and can find another string to their bow for this Saturday.”
