Ireland vs England

Kickoff: 4:45pm Saturday ITV 1, Dublin

Team news

Ireland

1.Porter 2.Kelleher 3.Bealham 4.Ryan 5.Beirne

6.Baird 7.Van Der Flier 8.Doris(C) 9.Gibson-Park 10.Prendergast

11.Lowe 12.Aki 13.Ringrose 14.Hansen 15.Keenan

16.Sheehan 17.Healy 18.Clarkson 19.Henderson

20.Conan 21.Murray 22.Crowley 23.Henshaw

England

1.Genge 2.Cowan-DIckie 3.Stuart 4.Itoje(C) 5.Martin

6.T.Curry 7.B.Curry 8.Earl 9.Mitchell 10.M.Smith

11.Murley 12.Slade 13.Lawrence 14.Freeman 15.Steward

16.Dan 17.Baxter 18.Heyes 19.Chessum 

20.Cunningham-South 21.Willis 22.Randall 23.F.Smith

Ireland are going for their third successive Six Nations title this year but will be doing so without the direct guidance of head coach, Andy Farrell who is away preparing for the Lions Tour. Simon Easterby replaces him and looks to be going with continuity for the moment. The big decision for this game came down to a choice between Crowley and Prendergast. It was Prendergast who was given the nod ahead of Crowley. Kelleher starts ahead of Sheehan at hooker although there is little to choose between them. In the back five, Beirne starts in the second row and Baird starts at blindside flanker with O'Mahony and McCarthy not making the 23. In the midfield, AKi starts on the inside and Ringrose on the outside with Henshaw on the bench. This is a big game for Ireland to show that they are still the dominant team in this competition. A defeat on Saturday would leave everyone with a lot of questions about this team.

England know that coming close is no longer good enough, the wins must start coming quickly or fans will soon grow weary of constantly being second best to the top sides. A win in Dublin would do a massive amount to remove the pressure from this team and drastically change the narrative.One measure that has been taken to change the narrative is switching captains from Jamie George to Maro Itoje. Itoje is know to not be particularly vocal so how his skill-set adapts to a leadership position. He only recently became captain of Saracens so his experience of captaincy is very limited. Elsewhere, Itoje's predecessor is injured so Luke Cowan-Dickie steps in at hooker. The most notable selection is the back row. Ben Earl remains at 8 despite the inclusion of Tom Willis who has kept him out of that shirt at Saracens. The flanker positions are held by the Curry brothers meaning that three openside flankers will be starting in the back row. This is an indicator of Borthwicks intention to win the break down and play too quickly for Ireland. It seems that the idea is to tire the Irish defence before bringing on the carrying giants, Cunningham-South and Willis. Cadan Murley is also an outside inclusion having seemingly jumped the winger queue to surpass Roebuck and Sleightholme for a places on the England wing. 

Score Prediction

Ireland 23 vs 25 England