Six Nations 2023: Ireland v England match preview, group information, standings & key stats

Ireland are 80 minutes away from sealing what can be a fourth Grand Slam, however their first received in Dublin.

A win would assure Ireland the title, but when France fail to beat Wales then they are going to have been topped champions earlier than kick-off.

Opponents England are nonetheless reeling from a record-breaking loss to France.

The job they face on Saturday is big. Ireland, the world quantity aspect, are on a nationwide report run of 13 straight dwelling wins.

“It is what dreams are made of,” stated head coach Andy Farrell. “To play England at home on the last weekend, on St Paddy’s weekend, for a Grand Slam, it doesn’t get any better.”

There’s additionally the added bonus of Johnny Sexton changing into the event’s all-time report factors scorer in his last Six Nations recreation. The fly-half is at the moment tied with fellow Irishman Ronan O’Gara on 557 factors.

Ireland group information

Ireland’s Ryan Baird, Jamison Gibson-Park and Robbie Henshaw will make their first begins of this 12 months’s Six Nations.

Lock Baird and centre Henshaw substitute injured pair Iain Henderson and Garry Ringrose, whereas scrum-half Gibson-Park has been most well-liked to Conor Murray in the one unenforced alteration to Andy Farrell’s beginning XV.

Rob Herring, second-row Kieran Treadwell and versatile again Jimmy O’Brien have been added to the bench.

England group information

England winger Henry Arundell will make his first begin in one in all 4 adjustments.

Owen Farrell comes again in as captain at fly-half after being dropped for Marcus Smith towards France.

Manu Tuilagi is known as at inside centre for the injured Ollie Lawrence for his first England look below Steve Borthwick.

The last change sees David Ribbans replaces the injured Ollie Chessum within the second row.

Commentator’s notes

Alasdair Eykyn: This fairytale writes itself: St Patrick’s Day weekend, Irish followers flooding again from the four-legged thrills of Cheltenham, Johnny Sexton’s last Six Nations match… absolutely it ends in an Irish Grand Slam?

Such was England’s capitulation towards France, a lot of the dialog now focuses on the potential scale of an Irish victory.

Ireland have been magnificent of their problem-solving win at Murrayfield, and their confidence and cohesion will nearly actually show an excessive amount of for Steve Borthwick’s shell-shocked troops.

Owen Farrell and Manu Tuilagi return, Henry Arundell begins. The naked minimal English expectation is to place up a battle. But an Irish Slam beckons, solely the fourth of their historical past, and the primary to be sealed in Dublin.

View from each camps

Ireland head coach Andy Farrell: “Ellis Genge saying that England are going to come out and fight….of course 100% they will.

“They are going to be formidable opponents for us. I do know the standard of participant they have.

“We’ve seen in their attacking game when it has been flowing, they’re as dangerous as anyone in the competition.

“They’ll have the emotional edge, clearly. There’s no higher tonic than getting again on the market and taking part in once more and placing just a few issues proper.”

England head coach Steve Borthwick: “Everybody across the group – gamers, coaches, administration group – discovered final weekend’s end result and efficiency painful. It hurts.

“Every one of us this week has worked together to get an improved performance on Saturday. We’re excited about this game and believe in what we’re trying to do.

“I’ve been up entrance concerning the hole and our job this week is to maintain attempting to speed up our growth. We have a number of catching as much as do.”

Line-ups

Ireland: 15-Keenan; 14-Hansen, 13-Henshaw 12-Aki, 11-Lowe; 10-Sexton (capt) 9-Jamison-Park; 1-Porter, 2-Sheehan, 3-Furlong, 4-Baird, 5-Ryan, 6-O’Mahony, 7-Van der Flier, 8-Doris

Replacements: 16-Herring 17-Healy, 18-O’Toole, 19-Treadwell, 20-Conan 21-Murray, 22-Bryne, 23-O’Brien

England: 15-Steward, 14-Watson, 13-Slade, 12-Tuilagi, 11-Arundell; 10-Farrell, 9-Van Poortvliet; 1-Genge, 2-George, 3-Sinckler, 4-Itoje, 5-Ribbans, 6-Ludlam, 7-Willis, 8-Dombrandt

Replacements: 16-Walker, 17-M Vunipola, 18-Cole, 19-Isiekwe, 20-B Curry, 21-Mitchell, 22-Smith, 23-Marchant

Match info

Head-to-head

• After a run of four straight defeats in all competitions to England, Ireland have won their last two meetings, scoring exactly 32 points in both games.
• Ireland are the only side England have a losing record against in the Six Nations, having lost 13 of 23 games.
• This is the sixth time that a Grand Slam has been on the line in matches between these sides: Ireland denied England in 2001, 2011 and 2017, England prevailed in 2003 and Ireland in 2018.

Ireland

• Ireland are aiming to win their fourth Grand Slam after 1948, 2009 and 2018, and a fifth Six Nations title after 2009, 2014, 2015 and 2018.
• It would also be their second Triple Crown in a row and their seventh in the Six Nations era, which would be two more than any other nation.
• They could set a new record of eight straight Six Nations wins, surpassing the seven-game streak they also set between 2004 and 2005.
• Andy Farrell’s side are on a national record run of 13 wins at home.

England

• England will finish no higher than third for the fourth time in the last six championships.
• They conceded 50 points at Twickenham for the first ever time against France last Saturday.
• It was their third-highest defeat in any Test fixture and their highest in a Six Nations match.
• They have misplaced two matches at dwelling in the identical Six Nations event for the primary time.

Match officers

Referee: Jaco Peyper (SA)

Touch judges: Ben O’Keeffe (NZ) and Pierre Brousset (FRA)

TMO: Marius Jonker (SA)