Unbeaten at home in ten RBS 6 Nations matches under Joe Schmidt, Ireland will look to extend that run when they host Grand Slam-chasing England tomorrow in the final game of the 2017 Championship.
2017 RBS 6 NATIONS CHAMPIONSHIP: Saturday, March 18
IRELAND (2nd) v ENGLAND (1st), Aviva Stadium, 5pm (live RTÉ Two/UTV/ITV/DMAX/FR2/RTÉ Radio 1/IRFU Live Blog)
Team News: Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt has announced the team to play England in Saturday evening’s RBS 6 Nations final round match at the Aviva Stadium.
The first of two changes in the back-line sees Jared Payne come in at full-back for Rob Kearney who has been ruled out with a knee injury. It will be Payne’s 20th cap and his third start in the number 15 jersey after two outings against South Africa last June.
Conor Murray is ‘not 100%’ after suffering a shoulder injury against Wales last Friday, so Connacht scrum half Kieran Marmion will make his first Six Nations start, featuring at half-back alongside Jonathan Sexton who has now scored 604 points for Ireland.
Keith Earls and Simon Zebo will complete the back-three, while Robbie Henshaw, a try scorer when Ireland beat England in Dublin two years ago, and Garry Ringrose are set for their fifth successive start together in the centre.
The third and final switch sees Devin Toner make way for Iain Henderson in the second row. The Ulsterman, who scored tries on his last two starts in green, will pair up with Donnacha Ryan.
It is as you were in both the front row and back row, with captain Rory Best packing down with Jack McGrath and Tadhg Furlong for his 104th cap, and CJ Stander, Sean O’Brien and Test centurion Jamie Heaslip are the loose forward trio.
Luke McGrath comes onto the bench to cover Marmion and could make his Six Nations debut, while Andrew Conway is standing by to make his international bow in the number 23 jersey. Paddy Jackson is the other reserve back, while Niall Scannell, Cian Healy, John Ryan, Toner and Peter O’Mahony are the forward options.
Commenting on the injured players and the new inclusions in the side, Schmidt said: “Conor trained okay on Tuesday without contact but we fitness tested him today (Thursday) and felt he wasn’t 100%, if more bruising came on that shoulder and we lose him early in the game, we’re vulnerable. It’s a fantastic opportunity for Kieran.
“It’s hard to say (how long Rob is out for), he’s going to see a specialist, it’s his knee. At this stage we’re hopeful it won’t be for too long. Jared’s experience will be really important (this weekend), he played full-back in South Africa.
“He offers confidence to players in front of him, he’s a very solid player, it’s very seldom he makes an error, in skill or decision-making. His ability to see space or look after the ball, we’d have a lot of confidence in that.
“It was a tight call in the second row. Iain Henderson came off the bench (against Wales) and did really well last week. Between Donnacha Ryan and Dev we just wanted to give him a chance to start. Donnacha also did well last week, so it was just trying to get that balance.”
He added: “There’s still an opportunity to finish second which is a massive thing for us. We can still attain the target of a top two finish, so there’s still a heck of a lot for us to gain individually and collectively.”
Meanwhile, Eddie Jones has made two changes to the side that beat Scotland in last weekend’s Calcutta Cup clash as England, who are unbeaten in their last 18 games, retained their RBS 6 Nations title.
Saracens’ Billy Vunipola starts at number 8 having come off the bench against Scotland and, in the back-line, Anthony Watson from Bath is named on the right wing. Nathan Hughes and Jack Nowell drop to the bench.
Saturday’s round 6 match will see 30-year-old back rower Tom Wood win his 50th cap for England having made his debut against Wales at the Millennium Stadium in 2011.
“We’ve had a really good week’s preparation,” said head coach Jones. “The intensity of training has been good. It’s going to be quite an occasion in Dublin so we understand we have to be prepared emotionally, physically and mentally.
“The message to the players has been quite simple, we’re playing Ireland on Saturday and that is the only thing that counts. We are focusing on preparing well, the only thing we can control is our preparation.”
Forwards coach Steve Borthwick is expecting a stern test from Ireland this weekend and says the England squad are aware of the tough challenge they will face.
“I think Ireland are a very good side. They have a forward pack that has experience, and have shown quality. They have pace and talent out wide in the backs. We know they are a good side,” he said.
IRELAND: Jared Payne (Ulster); Keith Earls (Young Munster/Munster), Garry Ringrose (UCD/Leinster), Robbie Henshaw (Buccaneers/Leinster), Simon Zebo (Cork Constitution/Munster); Jonathan Sexton (St. Mary’s College/Leinster), Kieran Marmion (Corinthians/Connacht); Jack McGrath (St. Mary’s College/Leinster), Rory Best (Banbridge/Ulster) (capt), Tadhg Furlong (Clontarf/Leinster), Donnacha Ryan (Shannon/Munster), Iain Henderson (Ballynahinch/Ulster), CJ Stander (Shannon/Munster), Sean O’Brien (UCD/Leinster), Jamie Heaslip (Dublin University/Leinster).
Replacements: Niall Scannell (Dolphin/Munster), Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster), John Ryan (Cork Constitution/Munster), Devin Toner (Lansdowne/Leinster), Peter O’Mahony (Cork Constitution/Munster), Luke McGrath (UCD/Leinster), Paddy Jackson (Dungannon/Ulster), Andrew Conway (Garryowen/Munster).
ENGLAND: Mike Brown (Harlequins); Anthony Watson (Bath), Jonathan Joseph (Bath), Owen Farrell (Saracens); Elliot Daly (Wasps), George Ford (Bath), Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers); Joe Marler (Harlequins), Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints) (capt), Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers), Joe Launchbury (Wasps), Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints), Maro Itoje (Saracens), James Haskell (Wasps), Billy Vunipola (Saracens).
Replacements: Jamie George (Saracens), Mako Vunipola (Saracens), Kyle Sinckler (Harlequins), Tom Wood (Northampton Saints), Nathan Hughes (Wasps), Danny Care (Harlequins), Ben Te’o (Worcester Warriors), Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs).
Referee: Jerome Garces (France)
Assistant Referees: Mathieu Raynal (France), Marius Mitrea (Italy)
Television Match Official: Ben Skeen (New Zealand)
Match Odds (Paddy Power): Ireland to win: 6/4; Draw: 22/1; England to win: 4/7
Pre-Match Quotes: Rory Best (Ireland) – “We’re well aware of what England are going for tomorrow, but for us I suppose it’s St. Paddy’s weekend, we’re at home and we have a very proud record at home as well, and we take huge confidence from that.
“So we have focused on how to beat England, we haven’t focused on the reasons why we’ll beat them. We’ll beat England because we’re pulling on a green jersey, because we’re at home and we expect probably a better, more consistent performance over the 80 minutes than we’ve delivered so far in this Championship.
“I think against Italy and France, yeah we were pretty good, but we expect more than that, and that’s our motivation for this weekend. I think if we’re motivated by trying to stop other teams, that’s not the Ireland team that has set the standards and is currently sitting where we are in the World Rankings.
“After any loss it’s always hard because boys do feel a bit sorry for themselves. You do dwell on the mistakes and the ‘what ifs’ and what you could have done differently to affect the result. The only big difference this week was the scale of the task we have tomorrow. Very quickly we knew we had to turn the page and improve our performance from last week.
“England are coming here off the back of 18 in-a-row, looking for back-to-back Grand Slams, so that is a quality side and if you’re not prepared and ready to play a quality side you’re going to have a very tough day.
“We’ve known that from the start of the week and we’ve prepared, so in that way, I suppose the latter part of the week has been reasonably easy to get boys up for it but the early part was very tough because we wanted to have something on the line tomorrow.”
Mako Vunipola (England) – “It would be a great achievement to win back-to-back Grand Slams, we want to be the best team in the world and this is the first step in getting there. All we can do is go out there and put a performance in that we can be proud of.
“If you look back at the history of the Six Nations there has never been a team that’s won two Grand Slams in a row. We want to achieve something historic. However, we know the task in front of us, Ireland away is going to be extremely difficult.
“To go to someone else’s stadium and get a win is tough, not many teams do it, but that’s the challenge ahead of us. With us trying to achieve something so great it leaves us in a dangerous position.
“All we can do is go out there and put a performance in that we can be proud of, we can only play what’s in front of us. It hasn’t been hard to keep our eyes firmly on the job this week, if anything it’s pushed us to be more focused.”
Pre-Match Links –
Head-To-Head: Ireland v England
Ireland v England: Facts & Figures
Inside Pass – The Welsh Weekend
Irish Rugby TV: Peter O’Mahony Focused On Squad And Performance
Recent Meetings –
2014: RBS 6 Nations: England 13 Ireland 10, Twickenham
2015: RBS 6 Nations: Ireland 19 England 9, Aviva Stadium; Rugby World Cup Warm-Up: England 21 Ireland 13, Twickenham
2016: RBS 6 Nations: England 21 Ireland 10, Twickenham
Support Ireland on www.irishrugby.ie/facebook or search #TeamOfUs, #ShouldertoShoulder and #IREvENG on www.twitter.com/irishrugby.
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