Tom Curry and Sam Underhill return to England XV

Colin Newboult

England boss Eddie Jones has named both Tom Curry and Sam Underhill in the XV to face Ireland in their World Cup warm-up at Twickenham.

Curry and Underhill have recovered from shoulder and ankle injuries respectively to be named in the side and will feature alongside Billy Vunipola in the back-row.

Meanwhile, Mako Vunipola has been included among the replacements following his recovery from a long-term injury.

Captain Owen Farrell (inside centre), Manu Tuilagi (outside centre) and Ben Youngs (scrum-half) start their first match this series. Jonny May will make his first appearance this season on the left wing with Joe Cokanasiga switching to the right wing.

Jamie George, Joe Marler and Kyle Sinckler are named in the front-row, while George Kruis starts in the second-row alongside Maro Itoje.

Jones said: “The players have come back in a very good physical and mental state and we have had a good preparation this week. We purposefully made the week short looking ahead to the World Cup where this might happen beyond our control.

“It is the third of four games for us and come the 8th of September, when we get on the plane, we want to be ready to go. This is another step forward for us.

“This weekend we will be looking to gain more game fitness and testing different sorts of game strategies. We have a specific way of how we want to play and the focus is very much on ourselves.”

On England’s last game at Twickenham before heading to Japan, Jones added: “We have been so appreciative of the support we have had at Twickenham this year and this is our last match there before the tournament, so we look forward to playing well in front of our fans.”

England: 15 Elliot Daly, 14 Joe Cokanasiga, 13 Manu Tuilagi, 12 Owen Farrell (c), 11 Jonny May, 10 George Ford, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Sam Underhill, 6 Tom Curry, 5 George Kruis, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Jamie George, 1 Joe Marler
Replacements: 16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Mako Vunipola, 18 Dan Cole, 19 Courtney Lawes, 20 Mark Wilson, 21 Willi Heinz, 22 Piers Francis, 23 Joe Marchant

Date: Saturday, August 24
Venue: Twickenham
Kick-off: 15:00 BST (14:00 GMT)
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant referees: Jérôme Garcès (France), Alexandre Ruiz (France)
TMO: Philippe Bonhoure (France)