| Venue: Twickenham, London Date: Saturday, 9 March Kick-off: 16:45 GMT |
| Coverage: Listen to live commentary on BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC Radio Ulster and online; follow live text on the BBC Sport website and app; watch on ITV1 |
Exeter Chiefs wing Immanuel Feyi-Waboso will make his first start for England against Ireland in the Six Nations on Saturday at Twickenham.
Scrum-half Danny Care is set to win his 100th cap off the bench, with the fit-again Alex Mitchell back to start.
Fly-half George Ford keeps his place in the starting XV ahead of Marcus Smith, who is named among the replacements.
The 25-year-old Harlequins fly-half was in line to play a leading role in the Six Nations but picked up a calf injury in training before the opener against Italy at the start of February and is yet to feature.
Lock George Martin is the third and final change to Steve Borthwick’s side as he comes in for Ethan Roots, with Ollie Chessum switching to blind-side flanker.
Harlequins number eight Alex Dombrandt is picked on his bench for his first appearance under Borthwick since missing out on the World Cup squad.
George Furbank is also retained at full-back following his surprise inclusion at Murrayfield ahead of regular starter Freddie Steward.
Ireland are seeking to become the first side to win back-to-back Six Nations Grand Slams and have only lost once in their past 21 matches.
“Ireland are without doubt currently one of the best teams in the world, and we’ll have to be at our very best against them on Saturday,” Borthwick said.
“We’ve prepared well for what will be another classic Six Nations game at Twickenham.”
Feyi-Waboso was named as a replacement for the opening three rounds and missed England’s three-day training camp in York last week because of a medical exam at Exeter University.
However, his impactful display against Scotland was one of the few bright moments for Borthwick’s side, who struggled in attack.
Northampton Saints’ Mitchell was ruled out of the Calcutta Cup loss by a knee injury, but is deemed fit enough to start after fears he could have missed the rest of the Six Nations.
Having won their opening two games, England’s Six Nations campaign was derailed by Scotland. Tough challenges in Ireland and France are still to come, but a win at Twickenham would keep their title hopes alive.
Care aims for win to ‘remember forever’
Care made his international debut in 2008 against New Zealand and has scored 15 tries for England, with his last a match-winning try against Samoa at the World Cup.
The 37-year-old, who spent a large portion of his international career behind Ben Youngs, who has retired from England duty, has won the Six Nations three times in 2011, 2016 and 2017.
If the Harlequin comes off the bench he would become the sixth Englishman to reach the milestone after Youngs, Jason Leonard, Owen Farrell, Dan Cole and Courtney Lawes.
“Danny’s a wonderful player and someone who always puts the team first. I’m sure Saturday will be an emotional and memorable day for Danny and his family, and the team couldn’t be prouder of his accomplishment,” England head coach Borthwick added.
Ireland are on an 11-match unbeaten run in the Six Nations having not lost since defeat by France in February 2022.
“You never know which game is going to be your last so I am just going to enjoy it and have fun,” Care told Rugby Union Daily.
“There is a big performance coming and you can feel it and we know we are going to have to bring that on Saturday.
“Imagine how amazing it would be if we got a win and a proper result, which is something I could remember forever where we broke the streak of Ireland in the Six Nations.”
Line-up
England: Furbank; Feyi-Waboso, Slade, Lawrence, Freeman; Ford, Mitchell; Genge, George (capt), Cole, Itoje, Martin, Chessum, Underhill, Earl.
Replacements: Dan, Marler, Stuart, Cunningham-South, Dombrandt, Care, M Smith, Daly.
