Defending champions Eire have named the aspect that can face England in Saturday’s eagerly-anticipated match on the opening weekend of this yr’s Six Nations, with Sam Prendergast beginning at out-half.
Eire begin a marketing campaign at house through which they’ll intention to turn into the primary nation to win the competitors outright for 3 years in a row.
Saturday’s match at Aviva Stadium kicks off at 4.45pm.
The aspect is the primary to have been picked by Simon Easterby, who has been positioned in interim cost of Eire whereas Andy Farrell is on secondment with the British and Irish Lions forward of their tour in Australia this summer time.
And Easterby’s first aspect is headlined by a Six Nations debut for Leinster 21-year-old Prendergast, who made his worldwide bow in final yr’s autumn internationals.
Jack Crowley, who began all 5 of Eire’s recreation in final yr’s event, will begin the competitors from the bench.
Eire have named a again three of Hugo Keenan, Mack Hansen and James Lowe, with Bundee Aki subsequent to Garry Ringrose in midfield. Jamison Gibson-Park begins at scrum-half, whereas Andrew Porter, Rónan Kelleher and Finlay Bealham are on the entrance row.
Caelan Doris captains the aspect having taken over from Peter O’Mahony within the autumn.
Hooker Dan Sheehan, in the meantime, returns to the squad after six months out with an ACL (Anterior Cruciate Ligament) knee damage and has been named on a strong-looking Eire bench.
“We’ve come off the back of a good week’s training in Quinta do Lago and I have been hugely impressed by the effort of the squad,” mentioned Easterby.
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Eire interim head coach Simon Easterby is trying ahead to the extremely anticipated Six Nations match between England and Eire in Dublin.
“We’ve enjoyed some competitive sessions and it wasn’t easy selecting a squad for this week’s game given the quality of those who haven’t made the final 23. Credit to those who missed out on selection for this game, there was obvious disappointment but they all stepped up brilliantly to help prepare the team this week.
“England are a proficient squad with high quality throughout their panel and we all know that we might want to hit the bottom working to ship a profitable efficiency.
England, in the meantime, named their first aspect of this yr’s Six Nations on Tuesday, with brothers Tom and Ben Curry beginning collectively for the primary time.
Eire vs England: The confirmed group line-ups
Eire
Beginning XV: 15 Hugo Keenan, 14 Mack Hansen, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 James Lowe, 10 Sam Prendergast, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park; 1 Andrew Porter, 2 Rónan Kelleher, 3 Finlay Bealham, 4 James Ryan, 5 Tadhg Beirne, 6 Ryan Baird, 7 Josh van der Flier, 8 Caelan Doris (c)
Replacements: 16 Dan Sheehan, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Thomas Clarkson,19 Iain Henderson, 20 Jack Conan, 21 Conor Murray, 22 Jack Crowley, 23 Robbie Henshaw
England
Beginning XV: 15 Freddie Steward, 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 12 Henry Slade, 11 Cadan Murley, 10 Marcus Smith, 9 Alex Mitchell; 1 Ellis Genge, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 3 Will Stuart, 4 Maro Itoje (c) 5 George Martin, 6 Tom Curry, 7 Ben Curry, 8 Ben Earl.
Replacements: 16 Theo Dan, 17 Fin Baxter, 18 Joe Heyes, 19 Ollie Chessum, 20 Chandler Cunningham-South, 21 Tom Willis, 22 Harry Randall, 23 Fin Smith
Six Nations 2025 fixtures: Eire
- February 1: Eire (h)
- February 9: Scotland (a)
- February 22: Wales (a)
- March 8: France (h)
- March 15: Italy (a)
