Six Nations Preview: Ireland v England
Everything you need to know ahead of England Men's final round meet with Ireland in Dublin.
Steve Borthwick's side will be looking to bounce back after last week's disappointing home defeat when they meet Ireland on Saturday in the final round of the Guinness Six Nations.
| When? | Saturday 18 March |
| Where? | Aviva Stadium |
| Kick off? | 17:00 |
Owen Farrell returns to the starting lineup and is named as captain of the side at fly half, with Jack van Poortvliet at scrum half. Manu Tuilagi makes his return at inside centre, and Henry Slade starts outside him. Henry Arundell will earn his first start for England on the left wing, with Anthony Watson and Freddie Steward also starting in the back three.
In the forwards, vice-captain Ellis Genge starts alongside Jamie George and Kyle Sinckler in the front row and David Ribbans comes into the side, linking up with Maro Itoje at lock.
Dan Cole could make his 100th appearance for England, and his 50th in the Six Nations, if he comes off the bench in Saturday's game. He is named in the replacement front row alongside Jack Walker and Mako Vunipola. Nick Isiekwe, Ben Curry, Alex Mitchell, Marcus Smith and Joe Marchant are also named as replacements.
TEAMS
England
15. Freddie Steward, 14. Anthony Watson, 13. Henry Slade, 12. Manu Tuilagi, 11. Henry Arundell, 10. Owen Farrell (C), 9. Jack van Poortvliet, 1. Ellis Genge (VC), 2. Jamie George, 3. Kyle Sinckler, 4. Maro Itoje, 5. David Ribbans, 6. Lewis Ludlam (VC), 7. Jack Willis, 8. Alex Dombrandt.
Replacements
16. Jack Walker, 17. Mako Vunipola, 18. Dan Cole, 19. Nick Isiekwe, 20. Ben Curry, 21. Alex Mitchell, 22. Marcus Smith, 23. Joe Marchant.
Ireland
15. Hugo Keenan, 14. Mack Hansen, 13. Robbie Henshaw, 12. Bundee Aki, 11. James Lowe, 10. Johnny Sexton (C), 9. Jamison Gibson-Park, 1. Andrew Porter, 2. Dan Sheehan, 3. Tadhg Furlong, 4. Ryan Baird, 5. James Ryan, 6. Peter O'Mahoney, 7. Josh van der Flier, 8. Caelan Doris.
Replacements
16. Rob Herring, 17. Cian Healy, 18. Tom O'Toole, 19. Kieran Treadwell, 20. Jack Conan, 21. Conor Murray, 22. Ross Byrne, 23. Jimm O'Brien.
STATS
England have both the highest lineout (95%) and scrum (95%) success rates of any side in this year’s Guinness Six Nations, however, Ireland have the best success rate on opposition lineouts this year, winning 23% of their opponents’ throws.
Ireland (37) and England (34) are the two sides to have conceded the fewest penalties in this year's Guinness Six Nations and are the only nations yet to be shown a card of any colour; they are also the two sides with the highest share of territory per game in this year's Championship (England - 60%, Ireland - 59%).
Ireland duo James Lowe (404) and Hugo Keenan (414) are the only players to have gained 400+ metres in this year's Guinness Six Nations, with England's Freddie Steward being one of just two other players to have made 300 metres in the Championship this year (306, also Thomas Ramos - 363).
VIEWS FROM CAMP
Steve Borthwick: The performance last week was not good enough and there have been a number of forthright conversations in the review of that game. Now we are looking forward to testing our capabilities against the number one side in the world in what promises to be a really exciting game on Saturday.
"Clearly the performance needs to substantially improve from where it was last week. We know we’re up against the best side in the world, so what a way to test ourselves. Ireland are clearly a really organised, well-drilled side that have been working together for a number of seasons, so we know we have to be good in all aspects of the game to compete and get ourselves in a position to win the Test match. It’s going to be a fantastic atmosphere."
Lewis Ludlam: "The boys are really excited to get back out on the field. We know we didn’t perform as well as we wanted to and we have got to put that right as quickly as possible. I think it is a fantastic challenge for us against the world number one side, to go and put right a few wrongs from last weekend.
"We want to be the best team we can possibly be, whether that’s away or at home and against any team, and the reality is that last week we didn’t perform to the standard that we wanted to. This weekend we want to meet that standard and that remains the focus. To do that, we’ve worked really hard this week. Having a real focus on our game plan and how we execute that under pressure has been one of the key takeaways from last weekend.
"We're fully aware that Ireland are a good side. They're the world number one for a reason and I think for me, these are the games you want to play. These are the games where you can judge yourself against the best in the world so we're approaching this game with a massive amount of excitement. We need to get our game right to be successful there, but our focus this week has been on how we can get better as quickly as possible so we can put the performance in."
PREVIOUS ENCOUNTERS
2022: England 15-32 Ireland
2021: Ireland 32-18 England
2020: England 18-7 Ireland
2020: England 24-12 Ireland
2019: England 57-15 Ireland
