England vs Ireland team news: Tom Curry and Sam Underhill to start as Eddie Jones juggles resources
Tom Curry and Sam Underhill will line up either side of Billy Vunipola in a new-look, highly mobile back row against Ireland on Saturday as England coach Eddie Jones continues to juggle his resources in the team's penultimate World Cup warm-up match.
Curry and Underhill bring a dynamic dimension to the flanks, where Jones still seems some way from settling on his preferred combination. Curry will wear number six but both players are considered open-sides and brought some real vigour to England's breakdown work in their previous appearances. Underhill, 23, impressed in last year's Autumn internationals but then missed the Six Nations with an ankle injury, opening the door for 21-year-old Curry.
Whether Jones will stick with the two youngsters when the tournament begins in Japan next month remains to be seen. Mark Wilson, probably favourite to make the World Cup starting team at blindside, is on the bench on Saturday after missing both Wales games.
Captain Owen Farrell will start his first game of the warm-up series but at inside centre, alongside Manu Tuilagi for the first time, with George Ford at flyhalf. It is the first time Jones has started with the Ford/Farrell combination since last year's tour of South Africa - though the two played in those positions in the latter stages of last week's defeat in Wales.
Jonny May also makes his first appearance this season on the left wing with Joe Cokanasiga switching to the right and Elliot Daly remaining at fullback. Prop Mako Vunipola, who has not played since suffering a serious hamstring injury in May, is on the bench. Review the announcements in full below:
Welcome to The Independent's live coverage of Thursday's team announcements as England and Ireland unveil their squads for this Saturday's Rugby World Cup warm-up clash at Twickenham.
Ireland will blink first with Joe Schmidt set to name his side at 11am this morning, before England follow suit two hours later at 1pm. We'll then speak to Eddie Jones for the reasons behind his selections as well as the latest from the England camp.
England could be boosted by the return of a number of key players in the form of Mako Vunipola, Tom Curry, Sam Underhill and Mark Wilson, who have all struggled so far during their World Cup preparations.
England: Elliot Daly; Joe Cokanasiga, Manu Tuilagi, Owen Farrell, Jonny May; George Ford, Ben Youngs; Joe Marler, Jamie George, Kyle Sinckler; Maro Itoje, George Kruis; Tom Curry, Sam Underhill, Billy Vunipola.
Replacements: Luke Cowan-Dickie, Mako Vunipola, Dan Cole, Courtney Lawes, Mark Wilson, Willi Heinz, Piers Francis, Jonathan Joseph.
Explaining his selections somewhat, Eddie Jones has this to say in the team release:
“The players have come back in a very good physical and mental state and we have had a good preparation this week. We purposefully made the week short looking ahead to the World Cup where this might happen beyond our control.
“It is the third of four games for us and come the 8th of September, when we get on the plane, we want to be ready to go. This is another step forward for us.
“This weekend we will be looking to gain more game fitness and testing different sorts of game strategies. We have a specific way of how we want to play and the focus is very much on ourselves.”
EJ: "We've picked more of the experienced players. A lot of those guys came back in the third group and we wanted to give them time to prepare mentally and physically."
EJ: "We just want to see different ways of playing. We want to see a passing game, we were tight against Wales and as you saw last week in a Test between two top teams there were no line breaks. We want to do that this weekend.
EJ: "It's about what they can bring. They've still got to get through a training session and those two are like the kamikaze two. But we've seen what referees are letting you get away with at the breakdown and theire qualities fit that.
OF: "When you see Manu's name on the teamsheet it's exciting for everyone I think, not just the person next to him. It's exciting to get out there and get stuck in."
EJ: "Slade should be fit to play against Italy in two weeks. Nowell is unlikely to feature but we're confident that he'll be ready for the World Cup. McConnochie should also be good for the Italy game."
