HALFBACKS
10. George Ford (Sale Sharks)
9. Alex Mitchell (Northampton Saints)
Moving down into the halfback axis, we expect to see George Ford once again selected for the lead in the fly half spot. The Sale man has been impressive throughout the earlier rounds of the competition, yet like Slade, was withdrawn earlier than anticipated in the battle against Scotland.
Fin Smith ran on for England at the hour mark, in an attempt to lead the line for a comeback. With Marcus Smith back in selection contention, we see no place for Fin in the match day squad, with the Harlequin linchpin taking the number 22 shirt.
After sustaining a knee injury in training a few weeks ago, it was brilliant to hear of Alex Mitchell’s inclusion in yesterday’s England squad update. The Northampton Saints man has steadily established himself as England’s first choice scrum half since the Rugby World Cup, and we predict him to return to the role for the Ireland match. Coupling this selection is the underwhelming performance from Danny Care, who started at scrum half in Mitchell’s absence. Unfortunately for Ben Spencer, we predict to see Care back on the bench, and the Bath halfback dropped from the squad.
FRONT ROW
1. Joe Marler (Harlequins)
2. Jamie George (Saracens)
3. Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers)
Moving on to the forwards now, and we can see Joe Marler once again taking the lead at loose-head prop. Marler is justifiably regarded as England’s best scrummager, and is the preferred pick to battle head-on with the talented tight-head Tadhg Furlong. Ellis Genge waits on as the replacement loose-head, for an injection of pace, power and passion to lift the squad in the latter stages.
We see no replacement for Jamie George at hooker, even after the England captain took his first loss as test match skipper in Scotland. The Saracen has settled well into his leadership role, and is eyeing up a historic win over Ireland. The re-shuffled hookers come into play on the bench, as we predict the injury returning Luke Cowan-Dickie to take over duties in the 16 jersey ahead of Theo Dan.
The tight-head spot was a difficult area of contention, as Dan Cole has in actuality been in better form than Will Stuart so far in the Six Nations. Despite defying the sands of time at 36-years-old, Cole won back the starting jersey for the Scotland test and was integral in England’s early dominance of the match. Cole and Marler banded together to win scrum penalties, which helped England establish a strong field position in the early goings. We can see Cole once again start on the tight-head, with Will Stuart fit to burst for his 55th minute introduction.