IRFU Live Blog: England v Ireland
Join us for live text commentary of Ireland’s RBS 6 Nations match against England at Twickenham today (kick-off 4.50pm), as Joe Schmidt’s men look to end their winless run in the 2016 Championship.
On the couch, in the clubhouse, on the move? You can follow all the action from England v Ireland with our IRFU Live Blog this evening.
If you don’t have a ticket for Ireland’s eagerly-awaited showdown with the English (kick-off 4.50pm), you can keep track of the game on our IRFU Live Blog, featuring:
– Live match updates and all the build-up from Twickenham
– Your tweets and photos
– In-game player and team statistics from Accenture
– Post-match reaction from Joe Schmidt and the players
Head coach Joe Schmidt has made five changes to the team that lost narrowly to France in Paris. There are two new caps in Leinster openside Josh van der Flier and Ulster centre Stuart McCloskey, who replace Sean O’Brien and Jared Payne respectively.
The fit-again Mike Ross is included on the tighthead side with Nathan White dropping to the bench, while Donnacha Ryan starts in the second row for the injured Mike McCarthy. Keith Earls resumes on the left wing for the injured Dave Kearney.
On the bench is uncapped Connacht lock Ultan Dillane and Cian Healy is included for the first time in the current campaign.
Ireland’s starting line-up boasts 621 Test caps between them and the bench has a further 204 caps. The average age of the walk-on team is 28.8 years, while the average on the bench is 28.6.