Ireland v England: Teams

Ireland coach Declan Kidney has given Jonathan Sexton the nod at fly-half for Saturday's RBS Six Nations finale against Grand Slam-chasing England.

The Leinster half-back starts despite enduring a torrid afternoon when he appeared as a 50th-minute substitute for Ronan O'Gara in Ireland's 19-13 defeat by Wales in Cardiff.

Kidney, however, has opted to stick with his controversial rotational policy at 10, meaning that O'Gara, who started the last two outings, drops to the bench.

Elsewhere, Luke Fitzgerald loses his place at full-back after struggling to make a successful transition from wing and loses his place in the squad altogether.

Keith Earls therefore switches to full-back with Andrew Trimble coming in to fill the vacancy on the left wing.

Eoin Reddan has been selected at scrum-half despite being concussed during the opening minute against Wales.

He was given the green light to play on Friday after getting a positive assessment from a neurologist.

With Tomas O'Leary ruled out because of an eye injury, Peter Stringer, who replaced Reddan in Cardiff, continues on the bench.

Captain

Meanwhile, Nick Easter will captain England after Mike Tindall was ruled out with an ankle problem.

Bath centre Matt Banahan will take Tindall's place in the starting line-up after making an impact from the bench against Scotland last week.

Martin Johnson's team is otherwise unchanged, with Saracens winger David Strettle taking Banahan's place on the bench.

He joins Leicester flanker Tom Croft, who remains bench-bound despite marking his comeback from a fractured shoulder with a try-scoring appearance against Scotland.

Johnson is confident that his side will be ready to rise to the occasion in Dublin, saying his players are more fired up than they have been all season.

"We need a healthy edge, that is a good thing and we play better with that. It comes from the fact we are playing a very good Ireland team away from home and the final game and the position we are in. There will be a big buzz about the game," Johnson said.

"We have talked about it all week. We just need to give it a crack tomorrow. We know the pitfalls of playing these guys and we can't fall into them.

"Our guys are as excited as they've been for any game this year. We see this as an opportunity more than anything.

"We have an opportunity to win a Grand Slam and that's a great place to be, that's where we want to be going into a big game. These guys are ready to really have a crack."

Ireland: 15 Keith Earls (Munster), 14 Tommy Bowe (Ospreys), 13 Brian O'Driscoll (Leinster, capt), 12 Gordon D'Arcy (Leinster), 11 Andrew Trimble (Ulster), 10 Jonathan Sexton (Leinster), 9 Eoin Reddan (Leinster), 1 Cian Healy (Leinster), 2 Rory Best (Ulster), 3 Mike Ross (Leinster), 4 Donncha O'Callaghan (Munster), 5 Paul O'Connell (Munster), 6 Sean O'Brien (Leinster), 7 David Wallace (Munster), 8 Jamie Heaslip (Leinster).
Replacements: 16 Sean Cronin (Connacht), 17 Tom Court (Ulster), 18 Leo Cullen (Leinster), 19 Denis Leamy (Munster), 20 Peter Stringer (Munster), 21 Ronan O'Gara (Munster), 22 Paddy Wallace (Ulster).

England: 15 Ben Foden (Northampton), 14 Chris Ashton (Northampton), 13 Matt Banahan (Bath), 12 Shontayne Hape (Bath), 11 Mark Cueto (Sale), 10 Toby Flood (Leicester); 9 Ben Youngs (Leicester), 8 Nick Easter (Harlequins, capt), 7 James Haskell (Stade Francais), 6 Tom Wood (Northampton), 5 Tom Palmer (Stade Francais), 4 Louis Deacon (Leicester), 3 Dan Cole (Leicester), 2 Dylan Hartley (Northampton), 1 Alex Corbisiero (London Irish).
Replacements: 16 Steve Thompson (Leeds Carnegie), 17 Paul Doran-Jones (Gloucester), 18 Simon Shaw (Wasps), 19 Tom Croft (Leicester), 20 Danny Care (Harlequins), 21 Jonny Wilkinson (Toulon), 22 David Strettle (Saracens).