Ireland team: Sam Prendergast brutally dropped by Andy Farrell while brave bench call made against England’s ‘Pom Squad’
Ireland head coach Andy Farrell and axed fly-half Sam Prendergast.
Sam Prendergast has been dropped from the Ireland 23 after head coach Andy Farrell selected his side to take on England in the Six Nations.
Plenty of faith has been placed in the fly-half, despite some mixed displays and his obvious defensive weaknesses, but the decision has now been taken to remove the Leinsterman from the matchday squad.
Prendergast’s spot for the England encounter has been taken by Munster’s Jack Crowley , who was impressive in the second half of their 20-13 triumph over Italy last weekend.
Crowley lines up alongside Jamison Gibson-Park in the decision-making slots, with those two the only alterations to the backline.
James Lowe and Robert Baloucoune have been retained on the wing after showing up well against the Azzurri despite the team’s underwhelming performance.
Back-row reshuffle
Meanwhile, up front, there has been three changes to the loose trio – two personnel and one positional – with captain Caelan Doris going back to his preferred slot at number eight.
Jack Conan, who lined up at the base of the scrum in Round Two of the Six Nations, is back on the bench as Josh van der Flier and Tadhg Beirne come into the starting XV at flanker.
Beirne is the only lock cover in the Ireland 23 which means Cormac Izuchukwu misses out on the squad altogether.
The back-row is the biggest reshuffle with just one change elsewhere in the pack as Tadhg Furlong unsurprisingly returns to the starting line-up.
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Joe McCarthy and James Ryan continue at lock while Dan Sheehan and Jeremy Loughman join Furlong in the front-row.
On the bench, they have interestingly – and perhaps rather surprisingly – gone for a 5/3 split instead of the 6/2 they had against France and Italy as Ronan Kelleher, Tom O’Toole, Finlay Bealham, Nick Timoney and Conan provide the forward cover.
Craig Casey is the back-up scrum-half while Ciaran Frawley, rather than Harry Byrne, is the fly-half option among the replacements. Tommy O’Brien completes the line-up.
“Games between the two sides have been nip and tuck over recent times and there’s great familiarity and respect across both camps,” head coach Farrell said.
“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.”
Ireland team to face England
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 Jack Conan, 21 Craig Casey, 22 Ciaran Frawley, 23 Tommy O’Brien
Date: Saturday, February 21
Venue: Allianz Stadium, Twickenham
Kick-off: 14:10 GMT
Referee: Andrea Piardi (FIR)
Assistant referees: Pierre Brousset (FFR), Gianluca Gnecchi (FIR)
TMO: Matteo Liperini (FIR)
FPRO: Mike Adamson (SRU)
READ MORE: The hesitation Matt Williams has about starting Jack Crowley against England
