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England Rugby

20 Nov 2020 | 8 min |

Weekend preview: England v Ireland, Red Roses v France

The preview, stats and team news ahead of England's games against France Women and Ireland Men on Saturday.

Both matches are part of a double header at Twickenham Stadium with the Red Roses kicking off the action at midday against France, who they beat 33-10 in Grenoble last weekend.

Head coach Simon Middleton has rotated his squad with Katy Daley-Mclean coming back in at fly half and to captain the side on her 116th cap, which moves her to third on England’s all-time caps list behind Rocky Clark and Sarah Hunter.

The Red Roses, who are now the number one ranked side in the world, also bring in Lagi Tuima, Claudia MacDonald, Lark Davies, Morwenna Talling and Harriet Millar-Mills.

Eddie Jones’ side then play their second Quilter International as part of Autumn Nations Cup against an Ireland side who also started the tournament with a win.

Tom Curry and Sam Underhill come into back row while props Mako Vunipola and Kyle Sinckler also return to the pack, while George Ford has recovered from his recent injury to be named as a finisher.

Red Roses v France

  • When? Saturday, 21 November                     
  • Kick-off? 1200 GMT
  • Where? Twickenham Stadium, London
  • Coverage? Live on BBC 2, BBC iPlayer and BBC 5 Live Sports Extra

England v Ireland

  • When? Saturday, 21 November                       
  • Kick-off? 1500 GMT
  • Where? Twickenham Stadium, London
  • Coverage? Live on Amazon Prime and Channel 4, BBC Radio 5 live, match centre on EnglandRugby.com

Views from the camp

Red Roses head coach Simon Middleton: "Playing three physical matches against top opposition back-to-back is very attritional and understandably can take its toll. 
 
“When I asked Katy if she’d captain the side, I honestly didn’t know it would fall on such an occasion and knowing her as I have come to I’m pretty sure she didn’t either. What I do know is that even after winning the World Cup as captain in 2014, the smile on her face when I asked her to captain the side said everything you need to know about one of England’s greatest-ever players.

“All the players and staff can’t wait for Saturday in what we know will be another tough game. As a squad and staff group alike, we would like to say a huge thank you to everyone within the RFU family who has made this game possible, to all the supporters who have wished us well over the last few weeks and to everyone for tuning in to watch."

England head coach Eddie Jones: “I’ve picked the strongest team possible for the most important game of our season.

“We have the highest respect for the Ireland and their coach Andy Farrell. They’ve had good preparation with two wins and a dominant display against Wales, and we will need to be at our best on Saturday.

“We’ve trained well this week, we’re expecting a tough, physical game against Ireland and we’ve reflected that in our sessions. We’ll look to lift our performance even higher and are looking forward to a really good game of rugby.”

Ireland head coach Andy Farrell: "Ross has been involved in some big games for Leinster and this is his chance to go to Twickenham and be part of a great team performance as well.

“I saw something nine months ago when we went into the Six Nations, the start of the Six Nations, where James Ryan started to think probably, while people are talking about me in this vein, maybe I should start doing something about it. He has 100% come to the fore in his curiousness about how he wants to lead, etc. I’ve been super impressed over the last nine months with how he handles himself, first and foremost, and how he interacts and thinks about others as well.

“I can’t wait for them to get out there and show what they can do. We’re concentrating on ourselves. We gain confidence in how we prepare and making sure we understand how we want to play the game and that’s how we’re going in.”

Previous meetings

Women

2019 - England 41-26 France, Castle Park (Six Nations)
2019 - England 20-18 France, Chula Vista Elite Training Centre (Super Series)
2019 - France 10-20 England, Stade Marcel Michelin (Autumn International)
2019 - England 17-15 France, Sandy Park (Autumn International)
2020 - France 13-19 England, Stade du Hameau (Six Nations)
2020 - France 10-33 England, Stade des Alpes (Autumn International)

Men

2016 - England 21-10 Ireland, Twickenham Stadium (Six Nations)
2017 - Ireland 13-9 England, Aviva Stadium (Six Nations)
2018 - England 15-24 Ireland, Twickenham Stadium (Six Nations)
2019 - Ireland 20-32 England, Aviva Stadium (Six Nations)
2019 - England 57-15 Ireland, Twickenham Stadium (World Cup warm-up)
2020 - England 24-12 Ireland, Twickenham Stadium (Six Nations)

Key stats

  • England have won nine of their last 12 Tests against Ireland (L3), including a 24-12 victory when they met earlier this year in the Six Nations
  • The Red Roses are on a six-match winning streak against France and have won 10 of the last 11 meetings
  • Eddie Jones' side have won 26 of their last 29 home games (D1, L2), New Zealand and Ireland (both 2018) are the only sides to pick up victories against them in that time
  • After winning in Grenoble last week, the Red Roses are now the number one ranked side in the world
  • England Men were the only side on the opening weekend of the inaugural Autumn Nations Cup to win 100% of their lineouts, claiming all 22 throws they took
  • England Women have had more Test matches against France than any team in their history, winning 34 of their meetings and losing 14
  • Ireland have lost their last three Tests on the road (inc. neutral matches), they have not been on a longer winless run outside of Ireland since a six-match span (D1, L5) from October 2011 to June 2012

Teams

Red Roses

15. Ellie Kildunne (Wasps FC Ladies, 10 caps)
14. Claudia MacDonald (Wasps FC Ladies, 11 caps)
13. Lagi Tuima (Harlequins Women, 5 caps)
12. Zoe Harrison (Saracens Women, 26 caps)
11. Abby Dow (Wasps FC Ladies, 14 caps)
10. Katy Daley-Mclean (C; Sale Sharks Women, 115 caps) 
9. Leanne Riley (Harlequins Women, 39 caps)
1. Vickii Cornborough (Harlequins Women, 55 caps)
2. Lark Davies (Loughborough Lightning, 27 caps)
3. Shaunagh Brown (Harlequins Women, 19 caps)
4. Abbie Ward (VC; Harlequins Women, 44 caps
5. Morwenna Talling (Loughborough Lightning, 2 caps)
6. Harriet Millar-Mills (Wasps FC Ladies, 57 caps)
7. Alex Matthews (Worcester Warriors, 39 caps)
8. Poppy Cleall (Saracens Women, 42 caps)

Finishers

16. Amy Cokayne (Harlequins Women, 52 caps)
17. Ellena Perry (Gloucester-Hartpury Women, 9 caps)
18. Laura Keates (Worcester Warriors, 61 caps)
19. Sarah Beckett (Harlequins Women, 19 caps)
20. Marlie Packer (Saracens Women, 73 caps)
21. Natasha Hunt (Gloucester-Hartpury Women, 54 caps)
22. Helena Rowland (Loughborough Lightning, 2 caps)
23. Emily Scarratt (Loughborough Lightning, 91 caps)

England Men

15. Elliot Daly (Saracens, 44 caps)
14. Jonathan Joseph (Bath Rugby, 52 caps)
13. Ollie Lawrence (Worcester Warriors, 2 caps)
12. Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs, 31 caps)
11. Jonny May (Gloucester Rugby, 58 caps)
10. Owen Farrell (c) (Saracens, 85 caps)
9. Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers, 101 caps)
1. Mako Vunipola (Saracens, 61 caps)
2. Jamie George (Saracens, 51 caps)
3. Kyle Sinckler (Bristol Bears, 37 caps)
4. Maro Itoje (Saracens, 40 caps)
5. Joe Launchbury (Wasps, 66 caps)
6. Tom Curry (Sale Sharks, 25 caps)
7. Sam Underhill (Bath Rugby, 19 caps)
8. Billy Vunipola (Saracens, 53 caps)

Finishers

16. Tom Dunn (Bath Rugby, 2 caps)
17. Ellis Genge (Leicester Tigers, 20 caps)
18. Will Stuart (Bath Rugby, 5 caps)
19. Jonny Hill (Exeter Chiefs, 1 cap)
20. Ben Earl (Bristol Bears, 5 caps)
21. Dan Robson (Wasps, 4 caps)
22. George Ford (Leicester Tigers, 69 caps)
23. Max Malins (Bristol Bears, 1 cap)

How to watch on Amazon Prime

  • Existing and new Prime members can watch live Autumn Nations Cup Rugby Union on hundreds of devices using the Prime Video app, across mobile, Fire TV, games consoles, Virgin’s V6 TV Box, BT TV, TalkTalk TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, online and many more. For a list of all compatible devices visit: www.amazon.co.uk/watchlivesport
  • New customers will be able to join Amazon Prime for £7.99 per month, or £79 for the year
  • Non-Prime members can also start a 30-day free trial of Amazon Prime to experience the Autumn Nations Cup on Prime Video
  • Whilst using the Prime Video app, customers can click on ‘Autumn Nations Cup’ to view the tournament schedule and choose between a main coverage stream or individual matches.