Wing Immanuel Feyi-Waboso will start on his preferred right wing as England head coach Steve Borthwick makes three changes from the side that lost 30-21 to Scotland for the visit of Ireland to Twickenham.
Scrum-half Alex Mitchell returns from a knee injury to partner George Ford who starts ahead of fit-again Marcus Smith, who has to settle for a place on the bench. Leicester’s George Martin will also start in the second row with Ollie Chessum shifting to blindside flanker as Ethan Roots drops out of the matchday 23.
As Telegraph Sport first reported, Feyi-Waboso will make his first international start against the Grand Slam-chasing Irish, making up a back three with the Northampton Saints pair of Tommy Freeman, who shifts to the left wing, and George Furbank, who is retained at full-back ahead of Freddie Steward. The centre pairing of Ollie Lawrence and Henry Slade also keep their places despite an unsteady showing against Scotland.
Apart from the inclusion of Martin, the rest of the pack remains unchanged, however there is a new forward on the bench in the shape of Alex Dombrandt. The Harlequins No 8 has not featured under Borthwick since the 20-9 World Cup warm-up defeat to Wales before Borthwick dropped him from his World Cup squad.
Both wing Elliot Daly and scrum-half Danny Care also drop to the bench after starting in the dispiriting defeat to Scotland. Care will win his 100th cap for England if he comes on and Borthwick says that he fully deserves reaching the milestone.
“I’d like to pay special tribute to Danny Care who will win his 100th cap at Twickenham on Saturday,” Borthwick said. “Danny has been a tremendous servant to English rugby and reaching this milestone is an incredible achievement. He’s a wonderful player and someone who always puts the team first. I’m sure Saturday will be an emotional and memorable day for Danny and his family, and the team couldn’t be prouder of his accomplishment.”
Ireland come to Twickenham as 1-6 on favourites and seeking their fifth consecutive victory over England. With England seeking to avoid a fourth successive two-win campaign in the Six Nations, Borthwick is under no illusions about the scale of the challenge against Andy Farrell’s men.
“As always, we’ve selected what we think is our strongest 23 to leave us best placed to win the game,” Borthwick said. “Ireland are without doubt currently one of the best teams in the world, and we’ll have to be at our very best against them on Saturday. We’ve prepared well for what will be another classic Six Nations game at Twickenham.”
England XV: G Furbank; I Feyi-Waboso, H Slade, O Lawrence, T Freeman; G Ford, A Mitchell; E Genge, J George, D Cole, M Itoje, G Martin, O Chessum, S Underhill, B Earl
Replacements: T Dan, J Marler, W Stuart, C Cunningham-South, A Dombrandt, D Care, M Smith, E Daly
—–
Ireland XV: H Keenan; C Nash, R Henshaw, B Aki, J Lowe; J Crowley, J Gibson-Park; A Porter, D Sheehan, T Furlong; J McCarthy, T Beirne, P O’Mahony (capt), J van der Flier, C Doris.
Replacements: R Kelleher, C Healy, F Bealham, I Henderson, R Baird, J Conan, C Murray, C Frawley.
