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Andy Farrell makes big change in Ireland side to take on England

Published 10:58 19 Feb 2026 GMT

Updated 11:13 19 Feb 2026 GMT

Colman Stanley
Andy Farrell makes big change in Ireland side to take on England

Homerugby

A big change at 10.

Andy Farrell has named his team to take on England at Twickenham this Saturday in the Six Nations (kick-off, 2.10pm).

Both sides will be wanting to redeem themselves, with Ireland looking a shadow of their former selves over the past year, while the English were left reeling after being gunned down by the Scots last weekend.

As expected, head coach Farrell has once again made adjustments, with some familiar faces returning to the starting team.

There are five changes to the side that started against the Azzurri last weekend, with Tadhg Furlong, Tadhg Beirne, Josh van der Flier, Jamison Gibson-Park and Jack Crowley coming in.

Interestingly, they have opted for a 5/3 bench split, with Tommy O'Brien coming back into the match-day squad, and Ciarán Frawley covering out-half/centre/fullback.

Sam Prendergast, Tom Clarkson, Cormac Izuchukwu and Edwin Edogbo have dropped out of the side completely.

Ireland 23 v England (from Irish Rugby site):

15. Jamie Osborne (Naas/Leinster)(12)
14. Robert Baloucoune (Enniskillen/Ulster)(5)
13. Garry Ringrose (UCD/Leinster)(71)
12. Stuart McCloskey (Bangor/Ulster)(25)
11. James Lowe (Leinster)(44)
10. Jack Crowley (Cork Constitution/Munster)(32)
9. Jamison Gibson-Park (Leinster)(48)

1. Jeremy Loughman (Garryowen/Munster)(7)
2. Dan Sheehan (Lansdowne/Leinster)(37)
3. Tadhg Furlong (Clontarf/Leinster)(83)
4. Joe McCarthy (Dublin University/Leinster)(21)
5. James Ryan (UCD/Leinster)(78)
6. Tadhg Beirne (Lansdowne/Munster)(67)
7. Josh van der Flier (UCD/Leinster)(76)
8. Caelan Doris (St. Mary’s College/Leinster)(captain)(57)

Replacements:

16. Rónan Kelleher (Lansdowne/Leinster)(45)
17. Tom O’Toole (Ballynahinch/Ulster)(18)
18. Finlay Bealham (Corinthians/Connacht)(55)
19. Nick Timoney (Queen’s University/Ulster)(8)
20. Jack Conan (Old Belvedere/Leinster)(57)
21. Craig Casey (Shannon/Munster)(26)
22. Ciaran Frawley (UCD/Leinster)(9)
23. Tommy O’Brien (Blackrock College/Leinster)(7).