Bath’s Matt Banahan will start for England in the final game of the RBS 6 Nations Championship against Ireland in Dublin on Saturday (kick-off 5pm).
Matt Banahan takes over from the injured Mike Tindall and will win his 11th England cap at the Aviva Stadium.
His inclusion is the only change to the side that beat Scotland 22-16 last Sunday, with Saracens’ David Strettle drafted onto the replacements bench.
Strettle made a try-scoring debut against Ireland at Croke Park in 2007 and is set to make his first appearance since facing New Zealand in Auckland in 2008.
Nick Easter from Harlequins, who took over the captaincy after Tindall suffered an ankle ligament injury against Scotland, leads the side again.
Mark Cueto will reach a personal milestone when he wins his 50th cap for England, six-and-a-half years after making his debut against Canada in 2004.
Meanwhile, Tindall will have further specialist assessment next week on the left ankle ligament injury that has ruled him out of Saturday’s Grand Slam decider.
Along with the injured Lewis Moody, he will be with the squad in Dublin and the England medics will continue to liaise with their Gloucester counterparts on his treatment.
ENGLAND Team & Replacements (v Ireland, 2011 RBS 6 Nations Championship, Aviva Stadium, Saturday, March 19, kick-off 5pm):
15 – Ben Foden (Northampton Saints)
14 – Chris Ashton (Northampton Saints)
13 – Matt Banahan (Bath)
12 – Shontayne Hape (Bath)
11 – Mark Cueto (Sale Sharks)
10 – Toby Flood (Leicester Tigers)
9 – Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers)
1 – Alex Corbisiero (London Irish)
2 – Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints)
3 – Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers)
4 – Louis Deacon (Leicester Tigers)
5 – Tom Palmer (Stade Francais)
6 – Tom Wood (Northampton Saints)
7 – James Haskell (Stade Francais)
8 – Nick Easter (Harlequins) (capt)
Replacements:
16 – Steve Thompson (Leeds Carnegie)
17 – Paul Doran-Jones (Gloucester)
18 – Simon Shaw (London Wasps)
19 – Tom Croft (Leicester Tigers)
20 – Danny Care (Harlequins)
21 – Jonny Wilkinson (Toulon)
22 – David Strettle (Saracens)
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