England’s Rice and Grealish to drown out noise during frosty Dublin return

Declan Rice and Jack Grealish both opted to represent England after starting out with Ireland. Composite: Getty Images

As the England internationals who gave up on the Republic of Ireland, Declan Rice and Jack Grealish should know better than to expect to be welcomed as returning heroes when they step out in Dublin on Saturday.

Time is no healer here. The perceived treachery is not easily forgotten when it comes to Rice, who made three appearances for Ireland in non-competitive fixtures before switching allegiance to England five years ago. “It went down like a lead balloon,” Mick McCarthy, the former Ireland manager, said in 2020. “I think he scored [in the under-21s] and I think he kissed the jersey.”