Ireland vs England news: Steve Borthwick’s predicted line-up and bench for Six Nations clash
The Six Nations is back, with the big match of the opening weekend seeing Ireland welcome England to the Aviva Stadium on Saturday.
That game kicks off at 4:45pm local time and is sure to be an absolute cracker.
Elsewhere, France meet Wales in Paris on Friday and Italy travel to Edinburgh for a clash with Scotland in the early game on Saturday.
In this article, Sports News Blitz writer Luke Ebden predicts Steve Borthwick’s team for Dublin.
Starting XV
Borthwick will likely go for a kicking game against Ireland in the hopes of taking the match as deep as possible.
The front row would have picked itself until the recent injury to Jamie George.
Ellis Genge has firmly established himself in the line-up following Fin Baxter’s poor run of form, Will Stuart was the breakout star of the Autumn Internationals, and the experienced Luke Cowan-Dickie gets the nod due to his strength at set pieces.
A world-class second-row pairing of captain Maro Itoje and George Martin picks itself.
In this fixture last year, England started a pacey back row of Ollie Chessum, Sam Underhill, and Ben Earl, with the power of Chandler Cunningham-South and Alex Dombrandt on the bench.
Dombrandt is out injured, so Borthwick will probably go with Ollie Chessum, Tom Curry, and Earl from the start and have the X-factor of Tom Willis in reserve on the bench.
Curry can be one of the best in the world on his day but has gone off the boil of late, so here is hoping that 2025 can be the year the 26-year-old rediscovers his old form.
If he is fit, Alex Mitchell starts at 9 after being sorely missed in November.
However, a minor injury could see Ben Spencer get a chance to salvage his England career in the aftermath of noticeably failing to replace Mitchell a few months ago.
Marcus Smith is generally a shoe-in at 10. There is a chance that he moves to full-back so the experienced George Ford can slot in at 10, but it is unlikely.
Ollie Lawrence and Henry Slade have always been Borthwick’s favoured centre pairing, and there is no reason to see that changing.
Freddie Steward is set to start at 15 following George Furbank’s injury.
Considering the likelihood of a kicking game, Borthwick will go for Tommy Freeman and Tom Roebuck out wide, with Ollie Sleightholme and Cadan Murley missing out.
Roebuck is a quality player and very good at what he does, offering useful pace on the wing and bringing some much-needed physicality to the attack.
Predicted starting XV: Ellis Genge, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Will Stuart, Maro Itoje (c), George Martin, Ollie Chessum, Tom Curry, Ben Earl, Alex Mitchell/Ben Spencer, Marcus Smith, Tommy Freeman, Henry Slade, Ollie Lawrence, Tom Roebuck, Freddie Steward
READ MORE: Six Nations 2025: Score predictions and analysis for the opening three games
Bench
The bench for the Ireland game is much harder to predict.
There are sure to be some familiar names, but it will be interesting to see how many rookies get the nod.
In addition, while England’s squad seems perfectly tailored for a 6:2 split, Borthwick persisted with a 5:3 split throughout last year’s Six Nations, so there is another layer of mystery.
Elliot Daly is certain to be in reserve given the Croydon native’s excellent versatility, experience, and suitability to the kick-and-chase game.
Willis and Cunningham-South will offer power off the bench, Bevan Rodd gets in ahead of an out-of-form Baxter, and the experience of Ford should be enough to see him selected.
Dan, Asher Opoku-Fordjour, and Harry Randall pick themselves.
Predicted bench: Theo Dan, Bevan Rodd, Asher Opoku-Fordjour, Chandler Cunningham-South, Tom Willis, Harry Randall, George Ford, Elliot Daly
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Possible changes
There are three elements to Borthwick’s likely plan that could do with a change.
First, Earl could replace Curry at 7 in order to allow for Willis to start at 8. Curry can then be dropped entirely in favour of Bath star Ted Hill, who can come off the bench for a richly deserved return to international duty.
Second, Lawrence could be moved to 12 in place of Slade and the latter jettisoned from the bench for newcomer Oscar Beard. With Slade generally playing at 10 for Exeter these days and not offering a great deal of physicality at 13, the promise of Beard deserves a go at outside-centre.
Third, the exciting Murley could start on the wing, thus dropping Freeman to the bench. The Northampton Saints star simply does not have the requisite pace or magic feet for a winger, at least not in the same vein as those from France, South Africa, or Ireland.
As for the bench, Ford and Daly can be dropped to accommodate the extremely versatile Freeman and long-term prospect Henry Pollock. Considering Smith is outright the best 10 in England and should get the full 80 minutes to play with as a result, Ford can be replaced by a more useful option.
Alternative starting XV: Ellis Genge, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Will Stuart, Maro Itoje (c), George Martin, Ollie Chessum, Ben Earl, Tom Willis, Alex Mitchell/Ben Spencer, Marcus Smith, Cadan Murley, Ollie Lawrence, Oscar Beard, Tom Roebuck, Freddie Steward
Alternative bench: Theo Dan, Bevan Rodd, Asher Opoku-Fordjour, Ted Hill, Chandler Cunningham-South, Henry Pollock, Harry Randall, Tommy Freeman
MORE FROM LUKE EBDEN: Six Nations Fantasy Game news: Best player for every position in 2025
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