Eddie Jones has been boosted before England’s crucial Six Nations match against Ireland with Kyle Sinckler passed fit to start and Alex Dombrandt deemed ready for a place on the bench. Tom Curry has also been named in the side after completing the head injury return-to-play protocols with Jones making three changes in total to the side that overcame Wales.
Sinckler has been hampered by a back injury this week but came through individual training on Wednesday and proved his fitness in Thursday morning’s session. Dombrandt returned to training only on Thursday after testing positive for Covid-19 last week but is named on the bench with Sam Simmonds, as expected, lining up at No 8. The other two changes see Jamie George replace the injured Luke Cowan-Dickie at hooker and Joe Marchant preferred to Elliot Daly.
Joe Launchbury is named on the bench and is in line for a first appearance in 15 months but while Jones was thought to be considering a six-two split among his replacements, he has opted for the more traditional five-three, meaning there is no place in the matchday squad for Alfie Barbeary. Otherwise there is a settled look to the side as England seek to keep their hopes of topping the Six Nations table alive against Ireland.
England F Steward, M Malins, J Marchant, H Slade, J Nowell, M Smith, H Randall; E Genge, J George, K Sinckler, M Itoje, C Ewels, C Lawes (capt), T Curry, S Simmonds.
Replacements: J Blamire, J Marler, W Stuart, J Launchbury, A Dombrandt, B Youngs, G Ford, E Daly.
Ireland H Keenan, A Conway, G Ringrose, B Aki, J Lowe, J Sexton (c), J Gibson-Park; C Healy, D Sheehan, T Furlong, T Beirne, J Ryan, P O'Mahony, J Van Der Flier, C Doris.
Replacements: R Herring, D Kilcoyne, F Bealham, I Henderson, J Conan, C Murray, J Carbery, R Henshaw.
Twickenham, Saturday 4.45pm (GMT). Referee: Mathieu Reynal
Sinckler’s availability will be welcomed by Jones given Ireland are without Andrew Porter but have called on the experience of Cian Healy. Dombrandt excelled against Wales but was always unlikely to start given his positive Covid test so the fact he is ready for a place on the bench is a similarly a positive outcome for Jones.
Elsewhere, Harry Randall continues at scrum-half with Ben Youngs on the bench with Marcus Smith again at fly-half. Jack Nowell and Max Malins are on the wing with Henry Slade once more at inside-centre and Freddie Steward retaining the No 15 jersey. Ellis Genge is at loosehead, Charlie Ewels and Maro Itoje comprise the second-row and Courtney Lawes continues to captain the side from flanker. Joe Marler, Jamie Blamire, Will Stuart and George Ford are among the replacements.
Georgia have officially qualified for the 2023 Rugby World Cup as a result of World Rugby's decision to suspend Russia and Belarus from all cross-border competition.
That decision was announced on 1 March, but a tournament board meeting on Thursday confirmed that Russia's remaining qualifiers would be scrapped with Georgia, Netherlands and Portugal awarded four points as the nominal winners.
That means Georgia, who were firmly on course to qualify regardless, are now assured of a top-two finish in the qualification standings. They are almost certain to finish top and join Wales, Australia and Fiji in Pool C, with Spain, Portugal and Romania in contention for second place.
“We’ve been looking at this game as a semi-final,” said Jones. “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.”
