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Bristol Post
Bristol Post
Sport
John Evely

Steve Borthwick retains a 30-man England squad for Ireland: George Ford remains, Tigers lock called-up

Steve Borthwick has opted to keep three fly-halves as part of a 30-player squad to prepare for England’s Guinness Six Nations match against Ireland this weekend.

Normally the England squad gets cut from 36 to 26 at this stage in the week but Borthwick has kept four additional players ahead of travelling to Ireland for Saturday's final game of the championship with there being no Premiership rugby this weekend, just the Premiership Rugby Cup final between London Irish and Exeter Chiefs on Sunday.

READ MORE: When is England's team news announcement ahead of Ireland in the 2023 Guinness Six Nations?

Lock Ollie Chessum sustained an ankle injury in training on Tuesday [14 March] which has ruled him out of this weekend’s game so Borthwick has called in Leicester Tigers second row George Martin.

Martin has just one cap to his name having been brought into the England set-up as a teenager by Borthwick's predecessor Eddie Jones in 2021. He came off the bench against Ireland but as still just 21-years-old has huge future ahead of him.

The unlucky six players who have returned back to their clubs this weekend in addition to the injured Chessum are his Tigers clubmates Ben Youngs and Guy Porter, Harlequins duo Will Collier and Cadan Murley, Saracens flanker Ben Earl and Northampton Saints winger Tommy Freeman.

Ireland v England is live on ITV and BBC Radio 5 Live.

FULL SQUAD
FORWARDS

Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers, 99 caps)
Ben Curry (Sale Sharks, 4 caps)
Alex Dombrandt (Harlequins, 13 caps)
Tom Dunn (Bath Rugby, 3 caps)
Ellis Genge (Bristol Bears, 47 caps)
Jamie George (Saracens, 76 caps)
Jonny Hill (Sale Sharks, 19 caps)
Nick Isiekwe (Saracens, 10 caps)
Maro Itoje (Saracens, 66 caps)
Lewis Ludlam (Northampton Saints, 18 caps)
George Martin (Leicester Tigers, 1 cap)
David Ribbans (Northampton Saints, 4 caps)
Bevan Rodd (Sale Sharks, 2 caps)
Kyle Sinckler (Bristol Bears, 60 caps)
Mako Vunipola (Saracens, 78 caps)
Jack Walker (Harlequins, 3 caps)
Jack Willis (Toulouse, 9 caps)

BACKS
Henry Arundell (London Irish, 6 caps)
Owen Farrell (Saracens, 105 caps)
George Ford (Sale Sharks, 81 caps)
Ollie Hassell-Collins (London Irish, 2 caps)
Max Malins (Saracens, 18 caps)
Joe Marchant (Harlequins, 14 caps)
Alex Mitchell (Northampton Saints, 4 caps)
Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs, 55 caps)
Marcus Smith (Harlequins, 21 caps)
Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers, 21 caps)
Manu Tuilagi (Sale Sharks, 50 caps)
Jack van Poortvliet (Leicester Tigers, 11 caps)
Anthony Watson (Leicester Tigers, 54 caps)

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