Eddie Jones has made one change in the England side to face Ireland on Saturday, with Elliot Daly coming in at outside-centre for the injured Henry Slade from the team that that beat France. Jones has opted against giving Ollie Lawrence another start in Slade’s absence, the head coach choosing instead to restore Daly to his starting lineup in Dublin.
Daly made his first start for England at outside-centre in the autumn of 2016 – having made his name for Wasps in that position – but has since won all his caps playing at either full-back or wing. With Max Malins continuing at full-back, however, and Slade going down with a calf/ankle problem, Daly takes the No 13 jersey. The centre Joe Marchant, of Harlequins, will be on the bench.
Again it seems harsh on Lawrence, who started in the opening defeat by Scotland but received little service that day before dropping out of the squad altogether. He was eye-catching in England’s resurgence against France from the bench, but again must do with a place among the replacements.
Elsewhere, England are unchanged with Luke Cowan-Dickie continuing at hooker with Mako Vunipola and Kyle Sinckler named as the starting props. Maro Itoje and Charlie Ewels continue at lock while Mark Wilson, Tom Curry and Billy Vunipola make up the back row. Ben Youngs and George Ford are the half-backs, the captain Owen Farrell is again at inside-centre, with the in-form Anthony Watson and Jonny May on the wings.
Aside from Marchant, the replacements are the same as against France with Ellis Genge, Jamie George and Will Stuart providing front-row cover. Jonny Hill, Ben Earl and Dan Robson also join Lawrence on the bench.
England go into the final round of Six Nations fixtures without a shot at the title for only the second time under Jones but are eager to finish the campaign on a high with a fifth straight win over Ireland. “This is our most important game of the tournament and we want to finish well,” said Jones. “We’re anticipating a hard, tough game against Ireland and we’ve picked this team to cope with that. We want to take it to Ireland physically and play the rugby we want to play.”
