Feyi-Waboso and Slade to Start for England Against Ireland

Exeter Chiefs' Immanuel Feyi-Waboso and Henry Slade have both been named to start for England this weekend.

England men’s head coach Steve Borthwick has named his team to play Ireland at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday 9th March (kick-off 4.45pm GMT live on ITV1).

There are three changes to the starting XV who took on Scotland in Edinburgh in round three of the 2024 Guinness Six Nations with Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, Alex Mitchell and George Martin all included.

An unchanged front row sees the England captain Jamie George joined at hooker alongside vice-captain Ellis Genge on the loosehead and Dan Cole at tighthead.

In the second row, vice-captain Maro Itoje is partnered with Martin who gets his first start of the Championship. The back row sees Ollie Chessum move from lock to start at blindside flanker, with Sam Underhill on the openside and Ben Earl at No.8 to round off the forward pack.

Scrum-half Mitchell, who missed out through injury at Murrayfield, links up again with vice-captain George Ford at 10. The midfield pairing of Ollie Lawrence at inside centre and Henry Slade at 13 remains the same.

In the back three, Feyi-Waboso is named on the right wing to win his third England cap and his first start of the tournament. Tommy Freeman moves to the left wing and George Furbank is selected at full-back.

Amongst the replacements, Danny Care will win his 100th England cap when he takes the field having first made his debut for England in 2008 against New Zealand at the age of 21. The evergreen scrum-half will become England’s sixth male Test centurion. Care takes his spot on the bench alongside club teammate Marcus Smith – who returns to the side from injury to feature in his first game of the tournament – as well as Theo Dan, Joe Marler, Will Stuart, Chandler Cunningham-South, Alex Dombrandt, and Elliot Daly.

“As always, we’ve selected what we think is our strongest 23 to leave us best placed to win the game,” said Borthwick.

“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.

“We’ve prepared well for what will be another classic Six Nations game at Twickenham.

“I’d like to pay special tribute to Danny Care who will win his 100th cap at Twickenham on Saturday. Danny has been a tremendous servant to English rugby and reaching this milestone is an incredible achievement. He’s a wonderful player and someone who always puts the team first. I’m sure Saturday will an emotional and memorable day for Danny and his family, and the team couldn’t be prouder of his accomplishment.”

England:

15. George Furbank (Northampton Saints, 7 caps)

14. Immanuel Feyi-Waboso (Exeter Chiefs, 2 caps)

13. Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs, 60 caps)

12. Ollie Lawrence (Bath Rugby, 22 caps)

11. Tommy Freeman (Northampton Saints, 6 caps)

10. George Ford (Sale Sharks, 94 caps) – vice captain

9. Alex Mitchell (Northampton Saints, 13 caps)

1. Ellis Genge (Bristol Bears, 60 caps) – vice captain

2. Jamie George (Saracens, 88 caps) – captain

3. Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers, 110 caps)

4. Maro Itoje (Saracens, 79 caps) – vice captain

5. George Martin (Leicester Tigers, 10 caps)

6. Ollie Chessum (Leicester Tigers, 21 caps)

7. Sam Underhill (Bath Rugby, 33 caps)

8. Ben Earl (Saracens, 28 caps)

Replacements:

16. Theo Dan (Saracens, 10 caps)

17. Joe Marler (Harlequins, 91 caps)

18. Will Stuart (Bath Rugby, 36 caps)

19. Chandler Cunningham-South (Harlequins, 3 caps)

20. Alex Dombrandt (Harlequins, 15 caps)

21. Danny Care (Harlequins, 99 caps)

22. Marcus Smith (Harlequins, 30 caps)

23. Elliot Daly (Saracens, 67 caps)