VIEWS FROM THE CAMP

England head coach Eddie Jones: “We’ve had a really good training week with Thursday probably our best session of the Guinness Six Nations.

“Ireland are a very good team, extremely well-coached. They are a team we respect a lot. They will bring their usual physicality and under Andy Farrell they’ve opened up their game a little bit.

“They are a tactically smart team. Murray and Sexton, who have played 170 Tests between them, at nine and 10 will manage the game well. We’ve got to make sure we match their physicality and their emotion on the weekend."

Ireland head coach Andy Farrell: “We had a decent performance in our last outing. It was nowhere near perfect, of course. We’ve had a few days to make sure how we get better.

“Obviously we had a fallow week (last week) and we took the lads down to Cork for a good couple of days. We’ve tried to put a few things right and hopefully we can get an improved performance off the back of that.

“It’s another big game. I suppose we’ll play this game and the next one will be big as well. That’s what Test match football is all about."

PREVIOUS ENCOUNTERS

• 2010:     Twickenham, London      England 16 – 20 Ireland (2010 Six Nations Championship  )             
• 2011:     Aviva Stadium, Dublin      Ireland 24 – 8 England (2011 Six Nations Championship)
• 2011:     Aviva Stadium, Dublin      Ireland 9 – 20 England (2011 Rugby World Cup Warm-up) 
• 2012:     Twickenham, London      England 30 – 9 Ireland (2012 Six Nations Championship)                  
• 2013:     Aviva Stadium, Dublin      Ireland 6 – 12 England (2013 Six Nations Championship)   
• 2014:     Twickenham, London      England 13 – 10 Ireland (2014 Six Nations Championship)
• 2015:     Aviva Stadium, Dublin      Ireland 19 – 9 England (2015 Six Nations Championship)   
• 2015:     Twickenham, London      England 21 – 13 Ireland (2015 Rugby World Cup Warm-up)            
• 2016:     Twickenham, London      England 21 – 10 Ireland (2016 Six Nations Championship  )             
• 2017:     Aviva Stadium, Dublin      Ireland 13 – 9 England (2017 Six Nations Championship)   
• 2018:     Twickenham, London      England 15 – 24 Ireland (2018 Six Nations Championship                
• 2019:     Aviva Stadium, Dublin      Ireland 20 – 32   England (2019 Six Nations Championship)             
• 2019:     Twickenham, London      England 57 – 15 Ireland 2019 (Rugby World Cup Warm-up)            

KEY STATS

England have lost just one of their last 19 home games in the Six Nations (W17, D1), however that one defeat did come the last time they hosted Ireland (2018).

This will be the 21st Six Nations clash between England and Ireland, there has yet to be a game between them where the side losing at half-time has turned things around to snatch a victory.

Ireland have picked up four wins against England at Twickenham in the Six Nations, more than the other four sides combined have managed (Wales x2, France x1).

England and Ireland have each conceded just 22 turnovers in this year’s Six Nations, fewer than any other side, England have also won a joint-high 17 turnovers (France also 17).

Ireland have won 95% of their lineouts in the Six Nations this year (19/20) the best rate of any team, however England have stolen the most lineouts (5) in the Championship in 2020.

PLAYER LANDMARKS

England’s Maro Itoje has hit 74 rucks in the Six Nations this year, more than any other player, while he’s also won the most turnovers of any player (6);

Ireland’s Bundee Aki has hit the most rucks of any back after two rounds (31).

Ireland’s Jordan Larmour has made the most carries (34) and gained the most metres (192) of any player in this year’s Six Nations, although it is teammate Jacob Stockdale (10.3m per carry) who boasts the best average gain of any one to make 10+ carries this campaign.

Ben Youngs is set to win his 100th Test cap against Ireland, he would also make his 98th appearance for England in the process (also two Lions caps), moving past Dylan Hartley as the country’s second most capped player, behind Jason Leonard (114).

TEAMS

England: 15 Elliot Daly (Saracens), 14 Jonny May (Leicester Tigers), 13 Manu Tuilagi (Leicester Tigers), 12 Owen Farrell (Saracens) (c), 11 Jonathan Joseph (Bath Rugby), 10 George Ford (Leicester Tigers), 9 Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers), 1 Joe Marler (Harlequins), 2 Jamie George (Saracens), 3 Kyle Sinckler (Harlequins), 4 Maro Itoje (Saracens), 5 George Kruis (Saracens), 6 Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints), 7 Sam Underhill (Bath Rugby), 8 Tom Curry (Sale Sharks)

Replacements: 16 Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs), 17 Ellis Genge (Leicester Tigers), 18 Will Stuart (Bath Rugby), 19 Joe Launchbury (Wasps), 20 Charlie Ewels (Bath Rugby), 21 Ben Earl (Saracens), 22 Willi Heinz (Gloucester Rugby), 23 Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs)

Ireland: 15. Jordan Larmour (Leinster), 14. Andrew Conway (Munster), 13. Robbie Henshaw (Leinster), 12. Bundee Aki (Connacht), 11. Jacob Stockdale (Ulster), 10. Jonathan Sexton (Leinster), (c), 9. Conor Murray (Munster), 1. Cian Healy (Leinster), 2. Rob Herring (Ulster), 3. Tadhg Furlong (Leinster), 4. Devin Toner (Leinster), 5. James Ryan (Leinster), 6. Peter O’Mahony (Munster), 7. Josh van der Flier (Leinster), 8. CJ Stander (Munster)

Replacements: 16. Ronan Kelleher (Leinster), 17. Dave Kilcoyne (Munster), 18. Andrew Porter (Leinster), 19. Ultan Dillane (Connacht), 20. Caelan Doris (Leinster), 21. John Cooney (Ulster), 22. Ross Byrne (Leinster), 23. Keith Earls (Munster)