Time to put your best foot forward. England’s toughest test of the 2024 Six Nations is coming in over the horizon, as Ireland get set to descend on Twickenham and continue their Grand Slam pursuit. Andy Farrell’s men are three wins from three heading into this clash with England, who were defeated by Scotland in their last outing.
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A mixed-bag of performances hindered England’s consistency across the park, as they were handed a 30-21 defeat up in Murrayfield. Now with Gregor Townsend’s side in the rear view mirror, England’s hopes of setting themselves back on track for an unexpected Six Nations title would be a win against Ireland.
The visitors are certainly the heavy favourites coming into this Round Four fixture, so it’s time for Steve Borthwick to batten down the hatches and select his top performers.
England fans were delighted to get the news, that two preferred halfbacks have returned to selection eligibility. After spending time out on the sidelines, Marcus Smith and Alex Mitchell are back in contention for this weekend, and could well feature in the squad to take on Ireland. Borthwick is set to name his match day 23 on Thursday, so we have decided to look into the near future and make our picks for the team to face Ireland.
BACK THREE
15. Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers)
14. Tommy Freeman (Northampton Saints)
11. Elliot Daly (Saracens)
Right from the off, we have made a change to the starting XV that took on Scotland, with Freddie Steward back in the fold for the Irish test. The Leicester Tigers man was left out of the trip to Murrayfield, despite being fully fit to take on Gregor Townsend’s side. This tactical decision left many England fans scratching their heads, and voicing their conflicting opinions on social media. George Furbank started up in Scotland and marked his England return with an impressive try, as the visitors took off with a hot start.
We’ve retained the adaptable Northampton man to our squad, yet he takes a seat as a back-three replacement, with Steward picked to start. On his day, there are few better than the Leicester fullback under the high ball, and his talents will sure be called upon when Jack Crowley peppers the back-field with an aerial bombardment. We have left the wings unchanged, as the combination of Elliot Daly and Tommy Freeman has steadily emerged as England’s leading partnership in the wide channels.
Saracen’s resident Swiss army knife, Daly’s versatility across the back-three and midfield could well play dividends in the match’s latter stages, when heavy Irish hits take a toll on the England men. We back Tommy Freeman to continue his explosive international form, as the Northampton man has established himself as Borthwick’s break-through bolter of the campaign. Having missed just three minutes of action so far, we expect another ironman outing from Freeman this Saturday.
CENTRES
13. Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs)
12. Manu Tuilagi (Sale Sharks)
Onto the centres, and we expect to see Henry Slade retain his spot in the England starting XV, despite his early withdrawal last time out against Scotland. Slade was not up to his usual standards in Edinburgh, and was replaced by his Exeter teammate Immanuel Feyi-Waboso. The wing’s introduction reshuffled the back-line against Scotland, yet we can see Borthwick reverting back to the status quo with Slade once again starting in the 13 jersey.
It was an anti-climactic week for Manu Tuilagi, as he was firmly in the media’s focus ahead of the Scotland test squad announcement. Borthwick found no place for the Sale man for the trip North of the border, despite his hotly anticipated return to match fitness. Instead, Ollie Lawrence was selected, yet the Bath centre had an underwhelming outing upon his own return from injury. We believe it is now time for Borthwick to call upon Tuilagi, with the Samoan-born centre eager to neutralise the gain-line threats of Bundee Aki and Robbie Henshaw, and provide an assortment of his own heavy carries.