6nats england vs ireland

That means that fit-again Manu Tuilagi has to settle for a place on the bench as Billy Twelvetrees and Brad Barritt continue their centre pairing.

Ben Morgan’s ankle injury sees Haskell comes in at blindside flanker with Northampton’s Tom Wood shifting across to No.8 and Thomas Waldrom coming onto the bench.

Haskell starts his first game in the Red Rose jersey since England’s summer tour to South Africa while Tom Youngs continues at hooker despite heavy pressure from Dylan Hartley.

The return of Tuilagi means there is no place on the bench for David Strettle however while Sale prop Henry Thomas will travel with the squad as the 24th man tight head prop cover.

"We were pleased with our intent to play against Scotland. A lot of the players performed very well and with Manu coming back into the equation it gave us some selection decisions,” said Lancaster.

“But with the centres playing well last week and Manu still returning to match fitness, having not played for the last four weeks, he and others will give us great options from the bench in what I am sure will be a physical encounter.

"It was good to have Billy Vunipola be able to train with us in the middle of the week but he needs some game time so he and David Strettle will be available for their clubs this weekend."

England
15. Alex Goode (Saracens)
14. Chris Ashton (Saracens)
13. Brad Barritt (Saracens)
12. Billy Twelvetrees (Gloucester Rugby)
11. Mike Brown (Harlequins)
10. Owen Farrell (Saracens)
9. Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers)

1. Joe Marler (Harlequins)
2. Tom Youngs (Leicester Tigers)
3. Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers)
4. Joe Launchbury (London Wasps)
5. Geoff Parling (Leicester Tigers)
6. James Haskell (London Wasps)
7. Chris Robshaw (Harlequins)
8. Tom Wood (Northampton Saints)

Replacements:
16. Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints)
17. David Wilson (Bath Rugby)
18. Mako Vunipola (Saracens)
19. Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints)
20. Thomas Waldrom (Leicester Tigers)
21. Danny Care (Harlequins)
22. Toby Flood (Leicester Tigers)
23. Manusamoa Tuilagi (Leicester Tigers)

england vs ireland is shaping up to be the 6nats game of the year. i hope both teams produce similar performances like they did in the first round.
should be a cracker with england to just win by 3pts.

Sasue

a lot of heat and passion from both teams, but unfortunatel the games been pretty shit. i think my expectations were too high after the first round of 6nats where every game was super exciting.

england are leading 6-0, but the story so far is that handaling errors are huge.

b odriscoll is having a nother great game, easily the best player on the field at the moment, IMO.
 

@mikey,

This borefest confirmed what I always thought, the AB/England game was a bad day at the office for the AB's.