England will face Ireland on Saturday at Twickenham in the Six Nations
Thursday 10 March 2022 18:03, UK
Tom Curry has been passed fit to start for England against Ireland in the Six Nations on Saturday.
Curry has passed the return to play protocols from concussion to continue at openside.
Alex Dombrandt has sufficiently recovered from Covid to secure a place on England's bench.
Dombrandt's inclusion was pending a successful run out in Thursday's training session and, while removed from the starting XV that defeated Wales, he is able to provide number eight cover from the bench.
Sam Simmonds starts in Dombrandt's place.
Head coach Eddie Jones said: "We've been looking at this game as a semi-final. Ireland are the most cohesive side in the world right now and it will be a good test this weekend.
"We've prepared really well for this game. We did some good team togetherness work in Bristol and had a solid week of training on the pitch here.
"We are looking forward to going after them in front of a great home crowd at Twickenham.
"It's been special having 82,000 supporters back in for our Six Nations games and it will be a great Test match for them."
England: 15 Freddie Steward, 14 Max Malins, 13 Joe Marchant, 12 Henry Slade, 11 Jack Nowell, 10 Marcus Smith, 9 Harry Randall; 1 Ellis Genge, 2 Jamie George, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 4 Maro Itoje, 5 Charlie Ewels, 6 Courtney Lawes (c), 7 Tom Curry, 8 Sam Simmonds.
Replacements: 16 Jamie Blamire, 17 Joe Marler, 18 Will Stuart, 19 Joe Launchbury, 20 Alex Dombrandt, 21 Ben Youngs, 22 George Ford, 23 Elliot Daly.
Captain Johnny Sexton will return to the team while Iain Henderson is fit enough to be named among the replacements.
"It's a massive challenge for us this weekend," Andy Farrell said. "We've got to prove to ourselves that there's a performance in there from us that's a step above what we've shown already."
Farrell opted to restore Bundee Aki to the midfield ahead of Robbie Henshaw, who he said was still suffering from a lack of game time. Andrew Conway and Hugo Keenan return to the back three alongside James Lowe who is retained from the Italy game.
With injured prop Andrew Porter joining fellow front rower Ronan Kelleher on the sidelines for the rest of the tournament, Cian Healy will start his first game of this year's Six Nations to win his 115th cap.
Farrell also praised Peter O'Mahony's form and leadership qualities after he retained his place in the backrow ahead of Jack Conan, who is among the replacements again after the starting the first two games.
"It's always difficult when you've got a good squad, some tough decisions, but we feel the balance of the team is good one. And obviously you look at our bench, we've got an experienced bench and an explosive bench," Farrell said.
Ireland: 15 Hugo Keenan, 14 Andrew Conway, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 James Lowe, 10 Johnny Sexton, 9 Jamison Gibson Park; 1 Cian Healy, 2 Dan Sheehan, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 4 Tadhg Beirne, 5 James Ryan, 6 Peter O'Mahony, 7 Josh Van Der Flier, 8 Caelen Doris
Replacements: 16 Rob Herring, 17 Dave Kilcoyne, 18 Finlay Bealham, 19 Iain Henderson, 20 Jack Conan, 21 Conor Murray, 22 Joey Carbery, 23 Robbie Henshaw.
