ELLIOT DALY makes his first start at outside centre for England in more than four years. Daly, who is is a natural No 13, replaces injured Henry Slade who misses out altogether. The Saracens star has been mainly used as a full-back by boss Eddie Jones – a project that has earned him mixed reviews. […]
ELLIOT DALY makes his first start at outside centre for England in more than four years.
Daly, who is is a natural No 13, replaces injured Henry Slade who misses out altogether.
The Saracens star has been mainly used as a full-back by boss Eddie Jones – a project that has earned him mixed reviews.
The 28-year-old’s last and only Test start at outside centre came in a 37-21 win over South Africa at Twickenham in 2016.
The rest of the starting team to take on Ireland is exactly the same as the one that beat France last Saturday.
And on the bench, centre Joe Marchant, called in as cover, makes his first Six Nations start of 2021.
Harlequins centre Marchant leapfrogged Wasps centre Paolo Odogwu who has been in camp for seven weeks and seen no action.
Max Malins continues at fullback after his full debut against Les Bleus.
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Eddie Jones said: “This is our most important game of the tournament and we want to finish well.
“We’re anticipating a hard, tough game against Ireland and we’ve picked this team to cope with that.
“We want to take it to Ireland physically and play the rugby we want to play.”
Backs – 15. Max Malins, 14. Anthony Watson, 13. Elliot Daly, 12. Owen Farrell, 11. Jonny May, 10. George Ford, 9. Ben Youngs.
Forwards – 1. Mako Vunipola, 2. Luke Cowan-Dickie, 3. Kyle Sinckler, 4. Maro Itoje, 5. Charlie Ewels, 6. Mark Wilson, 7. Tom Curry, 8. Billy Vunipola.
Replacements – 16. Jamie George, 17. Ellis Genge, 18. Will Stuart, 19. Jonny Hill, 20. Ben Earl, 21. Dan Robson, 22. Ollie Lawrence, 23. Joe Marchant.
