England’s dreams of winning the 2026 Six Nations were all but extinguished as they were well beaten by Ireland on Saturday afternoon. After falling victim to a frustrating Calcutta Cup defeat last time out, England missed their opportunity to get back to winning ways, with many of the same issues cropping up. Steve Borthwick’s side were slow to start on return to TW1, and were once again punished by Ireland’s surgically precise attack, which, once it got going, was extremely difficult to stop.
It was an underwhelming outing for two of England’s biggest names. Long-standing captain Maro Itoje won his hundredth cap as he started in the second row, but his day in the sun proved memorable for all the wrong reasons. Fellow centurion George Ford was also out of character as he missed a pair of routine kicks to touch in the first-half, drawing jeers from the crowd when he eventually found his range.
Steve Borthwick will be grateful for the upcoming fallow week as he looks to pick up the pieces before facing Italy in Rome. Catch up with the action as it happened below with Standard Sport’s dedicated match blog.
England vs Ireland latest news
- TRY! Underhill scores a consolation
- TRY! Osborne puts a cherry on top
- TRY! Lawrence scores for England
- TRY! Sheehan extends advantage
- TRY! Dingwall pulls one back
- TRY! O'Brien adds to England misery
- Referee off injured: "My body is gone"
- TRY! Baloucoune adds another
- TRY! Gibson-Park scores after Baloucoune break
MATCH REPORT: England 21-42 Ireland
16:35 , Arthur FerridgeEngland's Guinness Six Nations unravelled spectacularly as they were brutally removed from title contention following a 42-21 rout by Ireland at Allianz Stadium.
A week after their Murrayfield jinx had struck again, Steve Borthwick's men leaked 22 unanswered points in a dramatic opening half hour with Luke Cowan-Dickie and Freddie Steward hooked before the interval.
And the misery continued into the second-half as broken England hardly fired a shot in their first defeat at Twickenham since November 2024.
All of the flaws exposed by Scotland resurfaced with interest in a self-destructive error count, a lack of physicality in all areas but particularly in defence, senior players not performing and an absence of leadership.
England player ratings vs Ireland: Ford 'unforgivable' as centurion Itoje disappoints
16:28 , Arthur FerridgeBen Coles has rated the England squad’s performances this afternoon for Standard Sport.
Spoiler alert: he wasn’t impressed.
Click here to see how he scored the Red Rose!
FULL TIME: England 21-42 Ireland
16:09 , Arthur FerridgeAnd an England knock-on in last play brings an end to proceedings.
It is a result they will want to forget in a hurry, but that will be much easier said than done.
England 21-42 Ireland
16:08 , Arthur Ferridge80mins: Into last play now as England chase a consolation bonus point try.
TRY! England 21-42 Ireland | Underhill '76
16:03 , Arthur FerridgeUnderhill dots one down under considerable pressure to trim the deficit further. England could still bag a bonus point with one more try here.
England 14-42 Ireland
16:02 , Arthur Ferridge75mins: It will be far too little, much too late, but England are enjoying an encouraging attacking spell here.
England 14-42 Ireland
16:00 , Arthur Ferridge74mins: Smith intercepts an Ireland pass in the midfield and breaks into 50m of space with an eye for goal, but McCloskey does absolutely brilliantly to track back at full speed and tackle him into touch.
TRY! England 14-42 Ireland | Osborne '70
15:56 , Arthur FerridgeOne more for good measure? Why not? Jamie Osborne hits the gap apace and scores to trigger a mass exodus among the home fans.
England 14-35 Ireland
15:54 , Arthur Ferridge68mins: Gibson-Park’s boot has England in a world of trouble. Smith is caught with the ball in hand on his own 5m line and Ireland get the penalty.
It is superb work from the visitors, but what must Steve Borthwick be thinking?
England 14-35 Ireland
15:53 , Arthur Ferridge67mins: Crowley has 15 points to his name today. Superb performance, in spite of that one glaring miss in the first-half.
PENALTY! England 14-35 Ireland
15:52 , Arthur Ferridge66mins: Freeman runs into trouble inside his own 22m line and is penalised after being tackled.
Crowley goes for the posts and scores - again - to all but condemn England.
England 14-32 Ireland
15:49 , Arthur Ferridge63mins: Cian Prendergast, who was not in the matchday squad when he woke up this morning, has been introduced for Ireland.
He was called up late in place of Jack Conan, who is ill.
England 14-32 Ireland
15:49 , Arthur Ferridge63mins: Freeman gets a bit of space on the right wing and breaks away, but Baloucoune dumps him into touch with a firm try-saving tackle.
England 14-32 Ireland
15:48 , Arthur Ferridge62mins: England are awarded a penalty at the scrum, and Ben Earl celebrates like he’s scored a winner! Ford produces another impressive kick to get the hosts back in enemy territory.
PENALTY! England 14-32 Ireland
15:45 , Arthur Ferridge59mins: Another penalty goes against England, and Crowley goes for the posts.
He slots it to extend the visitors’ advantage to a perhaps insurmountable 18 points.
England 14-29 Ireland
15:43 , Arthur Ferridge58mins: England are penalised - early push in the scrum. Free-kick to Ireland.
England 14-29 Ireland
15:43 , Arthur Ferridge58mins: It is taking an awfully long time for England to execute this scrum. All the while, the timer on Osborne’s yellow card is ticking down.
England 14-29 Ireland
15:40 , Arthur Ferridge56mins: Maro Itoje is withdrawn in favour of Alex Coles.
That brings an end to his hundredth England appearance. It hasn’t necessarily gone to plan, but who knows what might happen in the remaining 25 minutes?
TRY! England 14-29 Ireland | Lawrence '54
15:39 , Arthur FerridgeIts all happening! Lawrence goes over to trim the deficit for England, and Ireland’s Osborne is shown the yellow card!
Conversion is good - this could be pivotal...
England 7-29 Ireland
15:37 , Arthur Ferridge53mins: Pollock has served his hard time in the sin-bin and reenters the fray.
England 7-29 Ireland
15:36 , Arthur Ferridge52mins: Two changes for England. Rodd and Pepper come on for Genge and Curry.
England 7-29 Ireland
15:35 , Arthur Ferridge50mins: England win the lineout and look to maul, but the melee goes nowhere. Van Poortvliet picks and goes but runs into a big green wall. England continue the siege, but a penalty is awarded to Ireland - George’s gator roll. Itoje gets a talking to afterwards.
England 7-29 Ireland
15:34 , Arthur Ferridge50mins: Smith and Arundell combine nicely out on the left, but the latter’s desperate offload calls off the attack.
There was, once again, a preexisting advantage, so we come back to the opposite wing and Ford kicks to the corner.
England 7-29 Ireland
15:32 , Arthur Ferridge47mins: Back underway after Ireland make a pair of changes. Van Poortvliet takes the ball from the base of the scrum with penalty advantage in his favour, but plays such a dismal pass to the left flank that our new referee immediately calls England back.
Ford kicks to touch.
With that said, you could argue the damage is already done.
England 7-29 Ireland
15:27 , Arthur Ferridge45mins: This is simply a case of damage limitation for England now. Where did it all go so wrong?
TRY! England 7-29 Ireland | Sheehan '44
15:26 , Arthur FerridgeIreland secure their bonus point, and, barring something spectacular, the win. This is fast turning into a famous afternoon for the visitors.
England 7-22 Ireland
15:24 , Arthur Ferridge43mins: We will restart with an Ireland penalty on the 5m line.
England 7-22 Ireland
15:23 , Arthur Ferridge42mins: Doris sets Ireland on the front foot with a line-break but is hauled down some 10m out.
Gibson-Park continues the attack and is fouled. Penalty to Ireland, booking for Henry Pollock.
Happy debut day.
England 7-22 Ireland
15:21 , Arthur Ferridge41mins: England have never won a Test after trailing by 15 points at half-time.
Conversely, Ireland have never lost after leading by 15 at half-time.
Bodes well, that.
2ND HALF: England 7-22 Ireland
15:20 , Arthur FerridgeWe’re back underway! A huge 40 minutes awaits.
England vs Ireland referee injured during Six Nations clash in freak incident
15:20 , Arthur FerridgeA freak injury to referee Andrea Piardi saw England and Ireland’s Six Nations clash paused on Saturday at Twickenham.
A little under half an hour into the game, Italian Piardi signalled to the bench that a substitution was required before himself sitting on the turf.
He had to be helped to his feet by his assistants, complaining of a muscle injury.
Before limping off, he called over both captains, Maro Itoje and Caelan Doris, and explained: “It’s hard for me to say, but I am out [of the rest of the game].
“My body is gone. Best of luck for the rest of the game.”
Where do England go from here?
If nothing else, Dingwall’s try there can give them a bit of belief, but there is an awful lot of work to do for the Red Rose.
They have been sloppy in possession and outmuscled at the breakdown, but Borthwick has already shown his hand with three first-half changes, only one of which was due to injury.
Will more come after the break?
And that does it for the first half!
A chaotic opening 40 minutes, it must be said, and England have an awful lot to do after the break. Let’s see if Borthwick’s hairdryer treatment will have any effect.
TRY! England 7-22 Ireland | Dingwall '42
15:06 , Arthur FerridgeIt is a truly agonising watch. England run phase after phase into the Ireland defence but can’t quite get through.
Until, that is, Smith plays Dingwall into space on the left flank and he crashes through Baloucoune to give England a glimmer of hope ahead of half-time.
Ford hits the conversion.
England 0-22 Ireland
15:04 , Arthur Ferridge41mins: We are into last play, with England laying siege to the Ireland in-goal.
England 0-22 Ireland
15:03 , Arthur Ferridge40mins: Remarkable, a second tactical change of the first half for England! Freddie Steward is replaced by Marcus Smith. Extremely bold from Steve Borthwick.
England 0-22 Ireland
15:02 , Arthur Ferridge39mins: Lawrence is hacked down by McCarthy, who picks up the ball and sets about running in an 80m try. It’s the slowest line break of all time, but he doesn’t quite make it to the in-goal after being called back for a knock-on in the pick-up.
England 0-22 Ireland
15:01 , Arthur Ferridge38mins: Freddie Steward is out of the sin-bin. Now the England comeback begins!
England 0-22 Ireland
15:00 , Arthur Ferridge37mins: Itoje spills a lineout but his blushes are spared as he is deemed to have been fouled.
Ford kicks to the corner, and draws sarcastic cheers from the crowd.
England win their lineout and attack from close range, but somehow manage to concede a penalty between the 5m line and the in-goal.
Just isn’t happening for them at the moment.
England 0-22 Ireland
14:57 , Arthur Ferridge34mins: Story of the half, really, as England make a little line break down the right flank but look for one too many offloads and lose possession about 10m out.
England 0-22 Ireland
14:55 , Arthur Ferridge32mins: Inbetween those quickfire tries, Luke Cowan-Dickie was replaced by Jamie George. Tactical change, we’re hearing.
TRY! England 0-22 Ireland | O'Brien '30
14:53 , Arthur FerridgeFrom bad to worse to catastrophic for England. They will trail by at least three tries at half-time. O’Brien finishes this one after some nice handling from Doris, and Crowley converts.
England 0-15 Ireland
14:49 , Arthur Ferridge30mins: Referee Andrei Piardi is down with a quad injury and will have to be replaced.
He limps off after explaining the situation to Itoje and Doris.
“My quad is gone,” he can be heard saying.
YELLOW CARD! England 0-15 Ireland
14:47 , Arthur FerridgeCrowley misses Ireland’s conversion after Freddie Steward is sent to the sin-bin.
TRY! England 0-15 Ireland | Baloucoune '28
14:46 , Arthur FerridgeIt is just far too easy for Ireland. McCloskey breaks the England line like it isn’t even there, shrugging off Lawrence. He eventually gets down but Gibson-Park arrives to play Baloucoune into the corner for an easy try.
England 0-10 Ireland
14:43 , Arthur Ferridge25mins: England No9 Alex Mitchell is withdrawn after receiving treatment. Jack van Poortvliet replaces him.
England 0-10 Ireland
14:42 , Arthur Ferridge24mins: Gibson-Park scores after a contested high claim falls into his path, but it is called back after O’Brien is deemed to have fouled Steward in the air.
England 0-10 Ireland
14:41 , Arthur Ferridge23mins: Crowley lines up a penalty directly in front of the posts, some 30m out, and pulls it badly wide. Crikey, he won’t want to see that again.
England 0-10 Ireland
14:40 , Arthur Ferridge22mins: Seems to be concern around Tommy Freeman, who has twice been attended to by the England trainers but is carrying on. He took an awkward fall about ten minutes ago.
TRY! England 0-10 Ireland | Gibson-Park '20
14:37 , Arthur FerridgeTry for Ireland! Very much deserved. England are left reeling after Baloucoune’s line-break and Gibson-Park takes full advantage. He dives over unchallenged after taking a quick tap from a close-range penalty.
Crowley nails the conversion. Impressive shot, all the way from the touchline.
England 0-3 Ireland
14:36 , Arthur Ferridge19mins: England in trouble here as Baloucoune gets free down the right flank and offloads well to O’Brien, just introduced. They make up some 60m in the blink of an eye.
England 0-3 Ireland
14:35 , Arthur Ferridge19mins: We get back underway with an Ireland scrum, about 15m inside their own half.
England 0-3 Ireland
14:35 , Arthur FerridgeReplay seems to show Lowe pulling up after pushing off his left foot to grab the loose ball dropped by Genge. He hobbles off and has been replaced by O’Brien.
England 0-3 Ireland
14:34 , Arthur Ferridge18mins: Well, this one was 18 phases before England lost it. Believe that was Genge who lost the ball and Lowe cleared the Ireland lines, but the Irishman seems to have picked up an injury in the process.
In fact, there’s a few players down here, and time is off as trainers attend to the various niggles.
England 0-3 Ireland
14:33 , Arthur Ferridge18mins: England are back inside the 22m and playing with real intent. A Freeman goose-step has them within a couple of feet of the goal!
England 0-3 Ireland
14:31 , Arthur Ferridge16mins: And Ford misses another kick to touch!
England 0-3 Ireland
14:30 , Arthur Ferridge15mins: Another scrum-related penalty goes the way of England.
England 0-3 Ireland
14:29 , Arthur Ferridge15mins: Both front rows are having a talking to from the referee about space.
“We have to be better, please,” he says.
That’s them told.
England 0-3 Ireland
14:28 , Arthur Ferridge15mins: And a knock-on in the ruck ends England’s latest spell in possession.
England 0-3 Ireland
14:27 , Arthur Ferridge14mins: This has just been sloppy from England. Save for that one try-line assault, they have been poor with the ball in hand and not terribly convincing defensively, either. Work to do.
England 0-3 Ireland
14:26 , Arthur Ferridge12mins: 14 phases later and that effort is all for nought as Arundell fumbles a pass on the 5m line. Ireland kick clear.
England enter the 22m and come away empty-handed. Anyone else got a sense of deja vu?
England 0-3 Ireland
14:24 , Arthur Ferridge12mins: England are into the red zone for the first time and playing with some real intent now - this has come out of nowhere! Can they make it count?
England 0-3 Ireland
14:23 , Arthur Ferridge10mins: Some twinkle-toes from Arundell beats a couple of men, and he wins a penalty.
Ford’s kick misses touch, though. He’s had a tough start here.
PENALTY! England 0-3 Ireland | Crowley
14:21 , Arthur FerridgeCrowley makes no mistake with this close-range kick. It would have been harder to miss than to score.
England 0-0 Ireland
14:20 , Arthur Ferridge8mins: England seem to have Ireland moving backwards, but we come back for an earlier penalty advantage 5m from the line. Crowley will kick for points.
England 0-0 Ireland
14:19 , Arthur Ferridge7mins: England kick clear and win their line-out around the 22m line, but a misguided call to maul gets Ireland back on the ball almost immediately. They are immediately into the red zone, and this spells trouble for the hosts.
England 0-0 Ireland
14:18 , Arthur Ferridge6mins: Second time around, the scrum comes down again. Big rotation this time, but the penalty - mercifully - is given in England’s favour.
England 0-0 Ireland
14:17 , Arthur Ferridge5mins: England look to restart with a scrum just outside their own 5m line, but it collapses about as soon as the ball is put in. Shaky start for the pack.
England 0-0 Ireland
14:16 , Arthur Ferridge4mins: Ireland steal England’s line-out after an awkward miscommunication and are really bearing down on the hosts’ 22m line now. Gibson-Park sets Crowley free with a smart offload and he finds Lowe on the flank, but he is tackled into touch before he can kick through.
England 0-0 Ireland
14:14 , Arthur Ferridge3mins: The referee takes his time getting the scrum set, and he eventually does away with it altogether. He awards a free-kick to Ireland, with the hosts deemed to have pushed early.
England 0-0 Ireland
14:13 , Arthur Ferridge2mins: Ford’s kick is knocked down but Ireland cannot capitalise. We come back for an earlier scrum advantage - Ireland ball.
England 0-0 Ireland
14:11 , Arthur Ferridge1min: George Ford takes the kick-off to get proceedings underway and finds McCloskey, who runs into traffic before Gibson-Park kicks away.
KICK-OFF!
14:10 , Arthur FerridgeWe are underway at Twickenham Stadium!
Anthems are out of the way.
Kick-off comes next!
But first, we have a round of applause in memory of former England international Peter Henry Ryan, who passed away this week.
Every camera in the crowd is trained on Maro Itoje as he leads England out amid a haze of red smoke.
Time for the anthems...
Nearly time to get going
14:03 , Arthur FerridgeThe England and Ireland squads are ready to take to the pitch at Twickenham!
High praise for Itoje
14:01 , Arthur FerridgePrime Minister Keir Starmer has sent his congratulations to Maro Itoje ahead of his hundredth England cap.
Speaking via ITV Sport, he said: “Maro, congratulations on your imminent 100 caps for England, and thank you for everything you’ve done for English rugby.”
Team news reminder
13:55 , Arthur FerridgeWe will be underway in a quarter of an hour. Here’s a reminder of today’s starting lineups...
England XV: Steward, Freeman, Lawrence, Dingwall, Arundell, Ford, Michell, Genge, Cowan-Dickie, Heyes, Itoe, Chessum, Curry, Earl, Pollock
Ireland XV: Osborne, Baloucoune, Ringrose, McCloskey, Lowe, Crowley, Gibson-Park, Loughman, Sheehan, Furlong, McCarthy, Ryan, Beirne, Van der Flier, Doris
All eyes on Pollock
13:54 , Arthur FerridgeAll eyes will be on Henry Pollock today as he makes his full Test debut.
Hailed as a generational talent, he has a huge billing to live up to here.
Can the 21-year-old impose himself on some of his Lions team-mates this afternoon?
Man of the hour
13:45 , Arthur FerridgeMaro Itoje’s fans are out in force here...
Curry ready to grab England chance
13:37 , Arthur FerridgeSpeaking to Standard Sport during a roundtable interview this week, Tom Curry said he is full of energy and ready to grab his chance as he starts against Ireland today.
Asked whether he feels ‘like a coiled spring’ after being left on the bench for England’s first two Six Nations matches, he said: “I guess so. Steve’s been brilliant in terms of managing me during training and stuff like that. That’s obviously still ongoing, but probably.”
On the threats Ireland pose, he added: “You look at how they attack; relatively structured but very accurate. Defensively, you have to be very smart in what you do, not just around the breakdown but also how you set up in phase play.
“That’ll be a really interesting battle. You look across their whole squad, and we were lucky to go away with a lot of them in the summer, they are skilful, diligent players who are very clever.
“You look at someone from the front row through to the back row; they are all very intelligent players and I think that’s why they’re so dangerous. They can all make things happen.”
Steve Borthwick previews the tie
13:32 , Arthur Ferridge“We need to start the game with the intensity we require. It is a good team out there today, with a lot of pace and power. I want them playing fast today.
“I think Ireland have got a very good defensive team. They’ve been together for a long time.
“They have a lot of Lions, so we know what a challenge it’ll be. The big message to the players is I want the ball in hand and I want it moving fast.”
England vs Ireland head to head
13:29 , Arthur FerridgeIreland have won five of the last six Test meetings between these two nations, coming out on top in last season’s Six Nations 27-22.
England wins: 81
Ireland wins: 54
Draws: 8
Last time out for England: Borthwick left with questions to answer
13:25 , Arthur FerridgeYou will struggle to see such a dominant scrum produce so few points in return, but England’s catalogue of calamities at Murrayfield made their efforts in that area irrelevant, writes Ben Coles for Standard Sport.
Take your pick for the moment to sum up England’s day. Maybe it was Ellis Genge desperately trying to corral a bouncing ball, only to watch it escape his grasp for Ben White to score.
Or George Ford going for a drop goal with England’s attack grinding to a halt, only to be charged down before Scotland broke up field to score Huw Jones’ second try. A seven-point swing which with England creeping back into the contest slammed the door shut.
England had 12 entries into Scotland’s 22 and came away with far too little to show for that effort, knocking on repeatedly in sight of the posts and being held up over the line.
Whereas Scotland were ready to accept all gifts coming their way. England pride themselves on their aerial dominance but were found wanting here.
Read more on England’s Calcutta Cut shortcomings here!
Freeman: I needed extra time off to recover from Lions tour
13:18 , Arthur FerridgeTommy Freeman has been in conversation with Standard Sport this week, revealing that he required an extra fortnight to recover from the mental exhaustion which followed last summer’s British and Irish Lions tour.
He explained: “I struggled without realising it. My body felt good, but my mental state wasn't in the best spot.
“You go on a big Lions tour, off the back of 34 games or so. It's a lot of rugby.
“I locked myself in and it might have been a bit of built-up anxiety.
“I could probably have managed my off-time better and not gone on as many rollercoaster rides and things like that, probably just sat in the sun.
“Coming back, you’re adjusting and going through that routine again. Without realising it, I think I was tired.
“My body felt like I was OK to go and I was saying to coaches, 'yeah, I'm fine, I'm fine'.
“Mentally it was a bit more of a struggle. I can't really explain the feeling. It was a mix of up and downs.”
Click here to read more from Tommy Freeman!
Breaking Ireland team news
13:11 , Arthur FerridgeThere has been a last-minute change to the Ireland team!
Jack Conan has been ruled out of the matchday squad through illness, with Cian Prendergast called up to the bench in his place.
Here come the hosts
13:10 , Arthur FerridgeEngland arrive at Twickenham
George Ford: We want to make this a special day for Maro Itoje
13:03 , Arthur FerridgeGeorge Ford speaks to ITV ahead of kick-off.
On losing to Scotland, he said: “It was obviously disappointing for us last week. We reviewed it hard, some uncomfortable meetings, but all with a view to get better this week and get back on the horse, and attack training.”
On Maro Itoje’s hundredth cap, he adds: “Unbelievable. it shows his level of consistency to not only win 100 caps but everything else, captaining Lions tours and England. He’s a brilliant captain, he leads by example. We want to make today a special day for him.”
Last time out: Ireland back to winning ways
12:56 , Arthur FerridgeIreland survived a major scare by holding on to scrape an unconvincing 20-13 Guinness Six Nations win over Italy in Dublin.
Andy Farrell's side trailed 10-5 at half-time after Giacomo Nicotera's try and five points from Paolo Garbisi stunned a sold-out Aviva Stadium crowd following Jamie Osborne's opening score.
Jack Conan and championship debutant Robert Baloucoune restored order with second-half tries as the hosts ultimately bounced back from a humbling 36-14 round-one loss away to France.
Yet Ireland's lack of conviction on an afternoon when Hollie Davidson made history as the first woman to referee a men's Six Nations fixture did little to quell concerns they are a fading force.
Read the full match report here!
Ireland arrive at Twickenham
12:48 , Arthur Ferridge
As it stands
12:40 , Arthur FerridgeSix Nations standings ahead of England vs Ireland
1) France, +64 PD, 10pts
2) Scotland, +8, 6
3) England, +30, 5
4) Italy, -4, 5
5) Ireland, -15, 4
6) Wales, -83, 0
More on Itoje
12:32 , Arthur FerridgeAnother quick hit on Itoje, if you’ll humour me.
England’s captain will be sporting a unique outfit for today’s match.
His jersey will be embroidered with a message commemorating his hundredth England outing.
He will also be wearing custom red-and-gold Under Armour boots of his own design.
The colour scheme is a nod to Rome, where he made his England debut in February 2016.
The stats behind Itoje's century
12:24 , Arthur FerridgeMaro Itoje captains England today and will pick up his hundredth cap in doing so.
He has taken 64 wins from his 99 caps to date, scoring nine tries and winning a remarkable 375 lineouts.
Oh, and he has made 1,139 tackles, with 576 carries to boot.
Those first 100 appearances have seen him face Ireland 13 times, winning six times. Can he mark the occasion with victory today?
Standard Sport prediction: England spiral continues
12:16 , Arthur FerridgeThere was plenty wrong with England’s performance at Murrayfield last weekend, and do not have the benefit of a fallow week to iron out the wrinkles.
The Red Rose were slow to start against Scotland and, arguably, never quite got going, despite trimming the deficit somewhat in the second-half.
Facing an Ireland side on winning form, England will need to be at their best - with all 15 men on the pitch - if they are to come away with a result.
Saturday’s visitors have shown a knack for winning at Twickenham in recent years, and can be confident of getting one over on their long-time rivals here.
Ireland to win by 10 points.
England vs Ireland full team news
12:08 , Arthur FerridgeEngland XV: Steward, Freeman, Lawrence, Dingwall, Arundell, Ford, Michell, Genge, Cowan-Dickie, Heyes, Itoe, Chessum, Curry, Earl, Pollock
Replacements: George, Rodd, Davison, Coles, Pepper, Underhill, Van Poortvliet, Smith
Ireland XV: Osborne, Baloucoune, Ringrose, McCloskey, Lowe, Crowley, Gibson-Park, Loughman, Sheehan, Furlong, McCarthy, Ryan, Beirne, Van der Flier, Doris
Replacements: Kelleher, O’Toole, Bealham, Timoney, Conan, Casey, Frawley, T. O’Brien
Ireland team news: Prendergast dropped
12:01 , Arthur FerridgeAndy Farrell has gone bold with his Ireland team, making the surprise decision to drop fly-half Sam Prendergast.
The Leinstar star, who celebrated his 23rd birthday last week, was far from his best as Ireland narrowly beat Italy last time out, missing two conversions before being hooked.
Prendergast has been given the week off, with Ciaran Frawley taking his place on the bench.
He was replaced by Jack Crowley in Dublin, and the Munster half-back will start at Twickenham. He will be partnered by No9 Jamison Gibson-Park, who replaced Craig Casey.
Fit-again prop Tadhg Furlong returns in front of a rotated back row featuring Tadhg Beirne, Josh Van der Flier, and Caelan Doris. Jack Conan and Cormac Izuchukwu make way to accommodate them.
England team news: Pollock starts, Itoje's century
11:53 , Arthur FerridgeEngland were far from their best at Murrayfield last weekend, but Borthwick has shied away from making wholesale changes to his side.
In fact, he has made just three, and in doing so, he has handed a full debut to one of his squad’s brightest talents: Henry Pollock comes into the side at No8 in place of Ben Earl, making his first Test start almost a full year after debuting for the Red Rose.
He appeared off the bench at Murrayfield and injected much-needed vim and vigour into the side, and Borthwick will hope he can have a similar effect in TW1.
England’s other two changes see Ollie Lawrence and Tom Curry introduced, meaning Guy Pepper drops to the bench. Tom Roebuck is out of the matchday squad entirely, with Lawrence taking his place on the wing opposite Tommy Freeman, while Freddie Steward is in at full-back.
Maro Itoje will continue in his role as captain, and is set to earn his hundredth England cap at the match. He will become just the ninth man to do so.
Arundell keeps his place in midfield, having dodged a suspension for being sent off against Scotland.
How to watch England vs Ireland
11:45 , Arthur FerridgeTV channel: In the UK, England vs Ireland is being shown live and free to air on ITV1, with coverage beginning at 1pm GMT.
Live stream: Fans can also watch the game live online via the ITVX website and app, which is free with a registration.
Alternatively, stick it out here with Standard Sport’s LIVE blog!
Click here to read the full blog on The The Standard's website
