Preview: England vs Ireland - prediction, team news, lineups

England welcome Ireland to Twickenham on Saturday afternoon for round three of this year’s Six Nations Championships.

In their previous outing, Steve Borthwick’s side lost 31-20 to Scotland at Murrayfield, while Andy Farrell's outfit beat Italy 20-13 at the Aviva Stadium.

Match preview

After thumping Wales on the opening weekend of the competition, extending their winning run to 12 matches, England were brought back down to earth with a lacklustre defeat against Scotland last Saturday.

Hampered by Henry Arundell's sin bin after only eight minutes, Borthwick's men found themselves 17 points down mid way through the first half and although the Bath winger got on the scoresheet upon his return to the field, he was dismissed shortly before the break after being shown a second yellow card.

Following a third successive defeat at Murrayfield, this Saturday's match against Ireland has become a must-win for England if they are to retain any hope of returning to glory in the Six Nations, a competition they most recently won in 2020.

However, England have a great recent record when these sides have met at Twickenham, winning four of their previous five home encounters with Ireland, most recently pipping them by a point in 2024 courtesy of a last minute Marcus Smith drop goal.

Although they were five points behind at half time, Ireland clawed back in the second period to overcome a firm Italian test last weekend and return to winning ways after successive defeats.

Since winning the Six Nations in 2024, Farrell's side have not looked entirely convincing, especially against some of the world heavyweights and showcased that when they were well beaten by France in Paris on the opening weekend.

Like their opponents, Ireland must win this Saturday if they are to stand any chance of winning back their Six Nation crown, although that would still require a France slip up in the coming weeks.

Although, they have won five of their previous six matches against England, most recently beating them 27-22 in last year's competition, Ireland have historically struggled at Twickenham and have only won two of last 10 in London.

England Six Nations form:

England form (all competitions):

Ireland Six Nations form:

Ireland form (all competitions):

Team News

Borthwick has only made two changes to the pack that was deployed against Scotland, with Guy Pepper and Sam Underhill being replaced by Tom Curry and Henry Pollock, the latter of which will start on the back row as Ben Earl shifts to openside flanker.

As for the backs, there is only one difference as Tom Roebuck makes way for Tommy Freeman on the wing and Ollie Lawrence is introduced at outside centre after being left out of last weekend's matchday squad.

Due to the inclusions of Lawrence, Marcus Smith and Jack Van Poortvleit, Roebuck, Ben Spencer and Fin Smith all miss out.

Ireland have heavily rotated their forwards from their match against Italy as Thomas Clarkson, Cormac Izuchukwu and Jack Conan are replaced by Tadhg Furlong, Tadhg Beirne and Josh Van De Flier, with Doris moving to 8.

Much of the visitors' back line remains the same, however Craig Casey and Sam Prendergast make way for Jamison Gibson-Park and Jack Crowley.

With Van De Flier, Ciaran Frawley, Tommy O'Brien and Finlay Bealham being introduced to the squad, Pendergast, Izuchukwu, Thomas Clarkson and Edwin Edogbo all drop out.

England starting lineup:

15 Freddie Steward, 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 12 Fraser Dingwall, 11 Henry Arundell, 10 George Ford, 9 Alex Mitchell, 1 Ellis Genge, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 3 Joe Heyes, 4 Maro Itoje, 5 Ollie Chessum, 6 Tom Curry, 7 Ben Earl, 8 Henry Pollock

Replacements:

16 Jamie George, 17 Bevan Rodd, 18 Trevor Davison, 19 Alex Coles, 20 Guy Pepper, 21 Sam Underhill, Jack Van Poortvliet, 23 Marcus Smith

Ireland starting lineup:

15 Jamie Osborne, 14 Robert Baloucoune, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 James Lowe, 10 Jack Crowley, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 1 Jeremy Loughman, 2 Dan Sheehan, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 4 Joe McCarthy, 5 James Ryan, 6 Tadhg Beirne, 7 Josh Van Der Flier, 8 Caelan Doris

Replacements:

16 Ronan Kelleher, 17 Tom O'Toole, 18 Finlay Bealham, 19 Nick Timoney, 20 Jack Conan, 21 Craig Casey, 22 Ciaran Frawley, 23 Tommy O'Brien

We say: England 27-18 Ireland

While their defeat in Murrayfield was certainly hurtful to their ambitions of winning the Six Nations, we think it will just be a bump in the road for Borthwick's outfit and back them to return to winning ways this weekend.

England have a great home record against Farrell's men and with Ireland not looking at their brilliant best recently, it is difficult to see them taking a minimum of four points away from Twickenham.