England v Ireland: Andy Farrell dealt late hammer blow but continues to back brave bench call
Ireland head coach Andy Farrell and an inset of Jack Conan and Craig Casey.
Ireland have been dealt a late blow ahead of the Six Nations clash against England at the Allianz Stadium, Twickenham.
Andy Farrell has been forced to make a last-minute change for the fixture with Jack Conan ruled out through illness.
Late Ireland change for England clash
Conan had been named amongst the replacements after packing down at number eight in the victory over Italy in round two.
However, he has withdrawn from the Ireland matchday squad and has been replaced by Connacht’s Cian Prendergast.
There are no further changes to the team as Jamie Osborne, Robert Baloucoune and James Lowe start in the back three, Stuart McCloskey and Garry Ringrose in the centres, whilst Jack Crowley and Jamison Gibson-Park are the starting halfbacks against England.
Tadhg Furlong, Dan Sheehan and Jeremy Loughman combine in the front row while Joe McCarthy and James Ryan feature in the second row and the loose trio comprises of captain Caelan Doris, Josh van der Flier and Tadhg Beirne.
Conan’s withdrawal provided Farrell with the opportunity to backtrack on his decision not to include a second rower on his bench. However, the head coach has not backtracked from his decision and has replaced the ill back-rower with another loose forward.
Prendergast returns to the matchday 23 after starting against France in the opening round of the Championship.
England v Ireland
England: 15 Freddie Steward, 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 12 Fraser Dingwall, 11 Henry Arundell, 10 George Ford, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Henry Pollock, 7 Ben Earl, 6 Tom Curry, 5 Ollie Chessum, 4 Maro Itoje (c), 3 Joe Heyes, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 1 Ellis Genge
Replacements: 16 Jamie George, 17 Bevan Rodd, 18 Trevor Davison, 19 Alex Coles, 20 Guy Pepper, 21 Sam Underhill, 22 Jack van Poortvliet, 23 Marcus Smith
Ireland: 15 Jamie Osborne, 14 Robert Baloucoune, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 James Lowe, 10 Jack Crowley, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Caelan Doris (c), 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Tadhg Beirne, 5 James Ryan, 4 Joe McCarthy, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Dan Sheehan, 1 Jeremy Loughman
Replacements: 16 Rónan Kelleher, 17 Tom O’Toole, 18 Finlay Bealham, 19 Nick Timoney, 20 Cian Prendergast, 21 Craig Casey, 22 Ciaran Frawley, 23 Tommy O’Brien
Date: Saturday, 21 February, 2026
Kick-off: 14:10 GMT
Venue: Allianz Stadium, Twickenham
TV: ITV, TF1, RTE Sport, SuperSport, Sky Italia, Sky NZ, Stan Sports, Peacock
Referee: Andrea Piardi (FIR)
Assistant Referees: Pierre Brousset (FFR), Gianluca Gnecchi (FIR)
TMO: Matteo Liperini (FIR)
FPRO: Mike Adamson (SRU)
READ MORE: Six Nations 2026: All the round three team news, broadcasters, kick-off times and referees
