Ireland stick to their guns for trip to Twickenham
DUBLIN, IRELAND - FEBRUARY 08: Jonathan Sexton of Ireland and team mates prior to the 2020 Guinness Six Nations match between Ireland and Wales at Aviva Stadium on February 08, 2020 in Dublin, Dublin. (Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)
Ireland head coach Andy Farrell has named an unchanged starting line-up for the Six Nations clash against England this weekend.
Sticking to the same group which claimed a 24-14 win over Wales prior to the fallow week, the sole change amongst the whole matchday-23 sees Caelan Doris come onto the bench after passing HIA protocols.
The No.8 replaces Leinster teammate Max Deegan as replacement, as Johnny Sexton leads Ireland at Twickenham.
It is a chance for Ireland maintain their unbeaten start to the Six Nations and claim a second Triple Crown in three years, having beaten Scotland and Wales so far.
Tom O’Toole and Will Addison will depart the Irish camp and return to Ulster to become available for their PRO14 match with the Cheetahs.
Farrell said: “A decent performance last time out [against Wales], there were a few things we needed to fix but we decided to go with a similar selection for continuity.
“Caelan did well to get a start in the Scotland game and it only lasted four minutes. He’s been doing really well and obviously fully recovered, training with us during the fallow week and we’re looking forward to seeing him come off the bench. He wins collisions and takes the game to the opposition – that’s exactly what we want to see.
“Top players relish these moments and we’re in a good place.”
Ireland team to play England in the 2020 Six Nations
Ireland: 15 Jordan Larmour, 14 Andrew Conway, 13 Robbie Henshaw, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Johnny Sexton (capt), 9 Conor Murray; 1 Cian Healy, 2 Rob Herring, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 4 Iain Henderson, 5 James Ryan, 6 Peter O’Mahony, 7 Josh van der Flier, 8 CJ Stander
Replacements: 16 Ronan Kelleher, 17 Dave Kilcoyne, 18 Andrew Porter, 19 Devin Toner, 20 Caelan Doris, 21 John Cooney, 22 Ross Byrne, 23 Keith Earls
