Slade starts for England against Ireland

By Mark Stevens
16/3/23

Exeter Chiefs centre Henry Slade keeps his place in an England side which shows four changes for their final Guinness Six Nations Championship clash against Ireland on Saturday.

Slade will team-up with the recalled Manu Tuilagi in the visiting midfield, while skipper Owen Farrell - dropped to the bench for last weekend's heavy defeat by France also returns to the back division at fly-half.

The other change to the England back division sees head coach Steve Borthwick hand a first Test start to London Irish's Henry Arundell on the left wing, while in the pack David Ribbans comes into the second row in place of the injured Ollie Chessum.

Leicester's Dan Cole is in line to make his 100th appearance for England after being named as replacement. Cole made his England debut in the Six Nations in February 2010 and has gone on to play in three Rugby World Cups and has won three Guinness Six Nations titles.

Borthwick said: “We travel to Dublin to face an Ireland team on Saturday that has the chance to secure a Grand Slam Championship victory at home for the first time.

“We know that after the bitter disappointment of the display against an exceptional France team last week, we will have to be much improved to meet the challenge of playing the side presently ranked number one in the world.

“However, I have witnessed an England squad determined to make amends for the defeat at Twickenham, and I am confident that the team announced today will once again want to show the sort of resilience and attitude that brought us victory in Wales.”

ENGLAND SIDE TO FACE IRELAND

15. Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers, 21 caps)
14. Anthony Watson (Leicester Tigers, 54 caps)
13. Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs, 55 caps)
12. Manu Tuilagi (Sale Sharks, 50 caps)
11. Henry Arundell (London Irish, 6 caps)
10. Owen Farrell (Saracens, capt, 105 caps)
9. Jack van Poortvliet (Leicester Tigers, 11 caps)
1. Ellis Genge (Bristol Bears, 47 caps)
2. Jamie George (Saracens, 76 caps)
3. Kyle Sinckler (Bristol Bears, 60 caps)
4. Maro Itoje (Saracens, 66 caps)
5. David Ribbans (Northampton Saints, 4 caps)
6. Lewis Ludlam (Northampton Saints, 18 caps)
7. Jack Willis (Toulouse, 9 caps)
8. Alex Dombrandt (Harlequins, 13 caps)

16. Jack Walker (Harlequins, 3 caps)
17. Mako Vunipola (Saracens, 78 caps)
18. Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers, 99 caps)
19. Nick Isiekwe (Saracens, 10 caps)
20. Ben Curry (Sale Sharks, 4 caps)
21. Alex Mitchell (Northampton Saints, 4 caps)
22. Marcus Smith (Harlequins, 21 caps)
23. Joe Marchant (Harlequins, 14 caps)