Jamison Gibson-Park and Jack Crowley have been promoted to the starting line-up for Ireland’s Six Nations round three game against England at Twickenham on Saturday.
Both halfbacks are rewarded for their telling impact in last Saturday’s 20-13 win over Italy in Dublin, while Tadhg Furlong and Tadhg Beirne, who also made strong contributions off the bench, are also named in the starting XV. The fifth change sees Josh van der Flier recalled at openside after he was left out of last week’s matchday squad.
Sam Prendergast, who had started Ireland’s last four games and started four of last season’s Six Nations fixtures while featuring in all five, has been left out of the matchday 23 altogether. The 23-year-old had been in the matchday squad for 15 of Ireland’s last 16 matches since making his debut against Argentina in November 2024, the one exception being when he was rested for the 106-7 win over Portugal last July.
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Instead, Ciarán Frawley has been promoted to the replacements despite Andy Farrell reverting to a 5-3 bench. Finlay Bealham has been called up as tighthead cover as Thomas Clarkson also misses out, with Jack Conan dropping to the bench and Caelan Doris reverting to number eight with Beirne at blindside.
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Surprisingly, both Cormac Izuchukwu, who started last week, and Edwin Edogbo, who made his debut as a 70th-minute replacement, also miss out on the 23 as Tommy O’Brien has been recalled after starting in Ireland’s opening loss at the Stade de France.
Jamie Osborne, Robert Baloucoune and James Lowe are named in an unchanged back three, with Stuart McCloskey and Garry Ringrose continuing in midfield. Up front, Jeremy Loughman and Dan Sheehan are retained form last week, as is the secondrow of Joe McCarthy and James Ryan.
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Looking ahead to Saturday, Ireland head coach Farrell said: “Games between the two sides have been nip and tuck over recent times and there’s great familiarity and respect across both camps.
“We know their strengths and our aim is to deliver the best version of ourselves to put us in a position to get the performance that we want. Backed by thousands of travelling Irish supporters who travel from all over the world whenever we play in Twickenham, it will be another special occasion and a challenge we’re excited to face.”
Saturday’s match will be televised live on RTÉ2 and ITV, with live radio commentary available on RTÉ Radio 1.
“Like always, there’s a few different reasons that all gets put together,” said Farrell in explaining the five changes to the starting line-up.
“The main point to get out of selection is what’s the right balance for us as a team and where we’re at, who we’re playing against in round three at Twickenham, which for us is a big occasion.
“So, a few lads promoted from the bench. Maybe a bit fresher starting, a few lads that have not played coming into the squad as well over the last week or two, which freshens things up.”
Specifically with regard to the change at outhalf, Farrell said: “Because of what we’ve seen and how he’s come through and performed and playing confidently. I think the two lads [Prendergast and Crowley] came in to camp probably in better form. I’m not saying they were in bad form, in better form, but you see during training which way that you’re going to go through performance. You back what you see and all of that.
“I suppose sometimes you see people come from the back, have nothing to lose and then just rip in. And we’ve not just seen that with Jack, we’ve seen it with James Ryan – not selected to start in the first game, came on against France and had a storming game and has continued that.
“I saw that with James [Lowe] as well with the Lions, when he was behind the eight-ball there with a quad injury and he was chasing his tail to try and get into the squad and played his best rugby within that tour.
“That’s because people are able to sit back a bit, make sense of it and rip into the performance. I think you saw that with Jack’s performance last week.”
Asked if a lack of confidence was behind the decision not to play Prendergast in the Twickenham cauldron, Farrell said: “Well, Sam’s a fantastic international player. He’s on a journey that’s obviously learning like all of us. That will never stop. It’s the same for Ciaran Frawley.
“We’ve talked all along about the four lads competing against one another and the balance is right for this team this weekend.”
The Irish head coach described Frawley as “one hundred per cent excited” at the prospect of his first Test involvement this season, and first in the Six Nations since the corresponding game in Twickenham two years ago.
“He’s certainly been frustrated with the lack of game time, certainly in the autumn. But being able to give him the game there in the Ireland XV obviously kept him ticking over,” added Farrell in reference to that 52-14 defeat a fortnight ago in Thomond Park.
“And for what we’ve seen in training, how sharp he is and how eager he is to get going and the balance that he gives us on the bench, he’ll be ready to go.”
Edogbo made a favourable impression last week, not least in giving the Irish scrum some oomph, which must have made his omission a tough decision.
“We’ve got some good players who are used to pushing in the scrum in the secondrow,” said Farrell. “Any type of unit like Edwin is going to be quite dominant in that department. I suppose the occasion, when you’re coming on as a newish player in a big game like that at Twickenham, are you going to have it in your legs in the last 10 minutes or not?
“There’s a difference there in that regard but I suppose Joe McCarthy’s big enough and strong enough. We’ve certainly got a determined pack this week to make sure that that area is attacked from us.”
Farrell had called out the keyboard warriors for their targeting of Crowley and Prendergast in the aftermath of last week’s win, following which there was racist abuse directed at Edogbo underneath the IRFU congratulatory message to him on their X social media account, following which the Union took down this thread and announced they would be making an inquiry.
“Well, first and foremost, it’s all about the player, nothing but about how he is and how it’s affecting him or not,” said Farrell. “And we’ve had the conversation and he’s fine, thankfully. But it’s obviously disgusting. There’s no need for it in society. I didn’t read it. I don’t want to read it, I don’t want to give people anything to even think that I’m even commenting on some of the stuff that has been said really because they certainly don’t deserve that.
“But as far as I’m concerned, Edwin’s fine, he’s strong, he’s been brought up in the right way.
“We met his family last week, his mother and his two brothers and his sister. His father couldn’t make it because he works all hours God sends as an A&E nurse there down in Cork, which says it all.
“So he’s made of the right stuff, and that’s why he’s able to just crack on and ignore all the BS.”
ENGLAND: Freddie Steward, Tommy Freeman, Ollie Lawrence, Fraser Dingwall, Henry Arundell; George Ford, Alex Mitchell; Ellis Genge, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Joe Heyes; Maro Itoje (capt), Ollie Chessum; Tom Curry, Ben Earl, Henry Pollock. Replacements: Jamie George, Bevan Rodd, Trevor Davison, Alex Coles, Guy Pepper, Sam Underhill, Jack van Poortvliet, Marcus Smith.
IRELAND: Jamie Osborne; Robert Baloucoune, Garry Ringrose, Stuart McCloskey, James Lowe; Jack Crowley, Jamison Gibson-Park; Jeremy Loughman, Dan Sheehan, Tadhg Furlong; Joe McCarthy, James Ryan; Tadhg Beirne, Josh van der Flier, Caelan Doris (capt). Replacements: Rónan Kelleher, Tom O’Toole, Finlay Bealham, Nick Timoney, Jack Conan, Craig Casey, Ciaran Frawley, Tommy O’Brien.
