Guinness Six Nations Preview: Ireland v England

Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt is predicting an ‘exhilarating’ and ‘edge of the seat’ contest with old rivals England as his side launch their Guinness Six Nations title defence at home in front of a capacity Aviva Stadium crowd.

2019 GUINNESS SIX NATIONS CHAMPIONSHIP: Saturday, February 2

IRELAND v ENGLAND, Aviva Stadium, 4.45pm (live Virgin Media One/UTV/ITV/FR2/DMAX/NBC/RTÉ Radio 1/BBC Radio Ulster/IRFU Live Blog)

Team News: Robbie Henshaw has been selected as Ireland’s starting full-back for the first time since his debut against the USA in June 2013. He is one of three changes to the side that clinched the Grand Slam against England last March, with Devin Toner and Josh van der Flier also starting.

Henshaw anchors a back-three completed by wingers Keith Earls and Jacob Stockdale, last season’s top Six Nations try scorer and Player of the Championship. Garry Ringrose and Bundee Aki pair up again in the centre after recent starts together against Scotland, England, Italy and New Zealand.

Jonathan Sexton and Conor Murray are reunited at half-back as Murray returns to the Test arena having missed November’s GUINNESS Series through injury. It will be their 50th international start together after 47 for Ireland and two with the British & Irish Lions in 2017.

Winning his 114th Ireland cap, Rory Best will lead his country for the 29th time – he is chasing his 20th win as skipper. The front row is completed by Leinster duo Cian Healy and Tadhg Furlong, with Munster’s Dave Kilcoyne, who last played in the Six Nations six years ago, covering the loosehead spot on the bench.

Toner and van der Flier are the two other changes to the team that overcame England 24-15 at Twickenham. James Ryan makes it an all-Leinster second row combination, while van der Flier, Peter O’Mahony and CJ Stander, the Six Nations’ leading ball carrier in the last two tournaments, make up the back row.

Bolstering the bench, the fit-again Sean O’Brien is poised for his first Six Nations appearance in two years after an injury-disrupted 2018. Another notable inclusion of Ulster scrum half John Cooney who is standing by to make his Championship bow.

Ireland head coach Schmidt said:

“Robbie trained last week and in November a little bit at full-back and he actually trained there in Australia (in the summer) as well. He has been an option for us for some time there.

Rob (Kearney) just ran out of time (coming back from a quad injury) and we like the flexibility of Jordan (Larmour) and what he gives us off the bench. I thought he came on really well last season against England, coming in at 13 and having to play the last 35 minutes.

“It’s one of those things that we have seen as an option for quite some time so it’s probably not as much of a surprise to Robbie and the team as it might be to other people. With 31 guys going to a World Cup, you need guys who can be versatile so there is probably a little bit of that as well as Robbie being a good player and a recognised full-back anyway.”

He added: “Sean (O’Brien) always comes close to making the teams when available. I think it’s just that he hasn’t been available for quite some time and we want him to be able to get a bit of a feel for the match, have a bit of a look at it first. And then get out there and make the difference he can.

“We know how robust he is out there, we know how much pressure he can put on the ball, we know how well he carries. We want him to bring all that. He’s incredibly game intelligent and having that in that last quarter will be really important to us. That final quarter will probably be where the game is decided.”

Meanwhile, Owen Farrell will captain England from out-half in Dublin with returning Leicester Tigers centre Manu Tuilagi named outside him at number 12. Tuilagi will start his first match for England since the third Test against New Zealand in June 2014.

Also bolstering the starting XV are brothers Mako and Billy Vunipola from Saracens who will play for England for the first time this season having last featured in the June series against South Africa last year. Sale Sharks’ Tom Curry, who is 20 years of age, and Mark Wilson of Newcastle Falcons will make their Six Nations debuts in the back row.

The visitors’ back-three is made up of Wasps’ Elliot Daly at full-back and Leicester’s Jonny May and Jack Nowell of Exeter Chiefs out wide. Backing up starting scrum half Ben Youngs, Wasps’ Dan Robson is standing by to win his first cap off the bench.

England head coach Eddie Jones commented:

I think it is quite clear to beat Ireland you have to beat them in the contest area. They are very good at the breakdown and in the air, both those areas are a priority for us. Traditionally England and Ireland games are always very close, they are tough affairs.

“There is a lot of emotion in the games so our ability to finish the game strongly is going to be vital. It is well documented no one thinks we can win, but I can tell you everyone inside our camp believes we can win. We are hugely looking forward to the weekend.”

IRELAND: Robbie Henshaw (Buccaneers/Leinster); Keith Earls (Young Munster/Munster), Garry Ringrose (UCD/Leinster), Bundee Aki (Galwegians/Connacht), Jacob Stockdale (Ballynahinch/Ulster); Jonathan Sexton (St. Mary’s College/Leinster), Conor Murray (Garryowen/Munster); Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster), Rory Best (Banbridge/Ulster) (capt), Tadhg Furlong (Clontarf/Leinster), Devin Toner (Lansdowne/Leinster), James Ryan (UCD/Leinster), Peter O’Mahony (Cork Constitution/Munster), Josh van der Flier (UCD/Leinster), CJ Stander (Shannon/Munster).

Replacements: Sean Cronin (St. Mary’s College/Leinster), Dave Kilcoyne (UL Bohemians/Munster), Andrew Porter (UCD/Leinster), Quinn Roux (Galwegians/Connacht), Sean O’Brien (UCD/Leinster), John Cooney (Terenure College/Ulster), Joey Carbery (Clontarf/Munster), Jordan Larmour (St. Mary’s College/Leinster).

ENGLAND: Elliot Daly (Wasps); Jonny May (Leicester Tigers), Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs), Manu Tuilagi (Leicester Tigers), Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs); Owen Farrell (Saracens), Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers); Mako Vunipola (Saracens), Jamie George (Saracens), Kyle Sinckler (Harlequins), Maro Itoje (Saracens), George Kruis (Saracens), Mark Wilson (Newcastle Falcons), Tom Curry (Sale Sharks), Billy Vunipola (Saracens).

Replacements: Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs), Ellis Genge (Leicester Tigers), Harry Williams (Exeter Chiefs), Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints), Nathan Hughes (Wasps), Dan Robson (Wasps), George Ford (Leicester Tigers), Chris Ashton (Sale Sharks).

Referee: Jérôme Garcès (France)
Assistant Referees: Romain Poite (France), Federico Anselmi (Argentina)
Television Match Official: Glenn Newman (New Zealand)

Match Odds (Paddy Power): Ireland to win: 3/10; Draw: 22/1; England to win: 11/4

Pre-Match Quotes: Rory Best (Ireland) – “I think there is still more and we’ve got to find more. There’s no doubt we’ll need it and this is Six Nations rugby, it’s different to the autumn internationals. The autumn internationals are playing against teams that are a little bit unknown. Argentina and New Zealand, we study them but we don’t play against them in Europe in the Six Nations every year.

“You’re not very close neighbours to them. England know us inside out, they probably know us a lot better than the southern Hemisphere teams do. We can gear ourselves up now over the last nearly two weeks and then next 24 hours, we can gear ourselves up to put ourselves in the best position to win it, but ultimately what England are going to bring at us, we can’t control.

“That’s always the little thing that nags at you – you can’t control what they do. For us, it’s about making sure that we get consistency in everything that we do and that we’re able to go out tomorrow at a quarter to five and play the best game of rugby that this group has ever played because, ultimately, that’s what it’s going to take.

“It’s about trying to be better right across the board. Can we be more dynamic with our carries? Can we be quicker with the ruck? Can we get more useful ball off our set piece, scrum and lineout? Can we be more accurate with our kicking game? Can our passes be exactly where we want them instead of just checking someone for a millisecond?

“All of these things, and if you can get one or two percent improvement from everyone, if that’s everyone’s aim, even if you’re having one of those days where you don’t quite get it as well as you want and someone else does, it balances out.”

Owen Farrell (England) – “It will be a tough game obviously. Ireland are where they are in the world rankings at the minute and rightly so, but we’re looking to get up there. We’re looking to build on what we’ve been doing over the last autumn and we can’t wait to get going.

“It’s a passionate place, they’re a passionate crowd and they’re a passionate team. You see on big European nights in Munster, Leinster and the other provinces, how tough a place they are to go.

“You try and get your start right, you try and stick in the fight as well as taking it to them. They’re a tough team, they’re always tough games that are normally pretty close and it’ll probably be down to fine margins.”

Pre-Match Links –

Ireland v England – Live Blog

Head-To-Head: Ireland v England

In Pics: Ireland Captain’s Run At Aviva Stadium

Captain’s Run: Rory Best On Ireland v England

Irish Rugby TV: Greg Feek At Captain’s Run

Furlong Looking Forward To Aviva Stadium ‘Noise’

Joe Schmidt: Team Announcement Press Conference

Recent Meetings –

2016: RBS 6 Nations: England 21 Ireland 10, Twickenham

2017: RBS 6 Nations: Ireland 13 England 9, Aviva Stadium

2018: NatWest 6 Nations: England 15 Ireland 24, Twickenham

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