Preparations for the Rugby World Cup are under way, and this clash will provide England with their biggest summer test to date, following a win and defeat in two warm-up matches against Wales.
Last time these two sides met, Andy Farrell’s men lived up to their No 1 World ranking to secure a 26-19 victory in Dublin along with their first Six Nations Grand Slam.
Borthwick has already selected his 33-man squad to travel to France but this fixture will give the England coach a chance to finalise his starting XV.
When is it?
England face Ireland, in the third of their four World Cup warm-up matches, on Aug 19 at 5.30pm (BST).
Where is the match being played?
Ireland will host England at the Aviva Stadium, Dublin. The national stadium has become something of a fortress in recent times, and Andy Farrell’s men have not lost a game at home in more than two years.
What other warm-up matches are England playing?
- Wales 20 England 9, Principality Stadium
- England 19 Wales 17, Twickenham Stadium
- England v Ireland, Aviva Stadium, Saturday, Aug 19, 5.30pm
- England v Fiji, Twickenham, Saturday, Aug 26, 3.15pm
How to watch on TV
England’s World Cup warm-up fixtures are being exclusively broadcast in the UK on Amazon Prime.
Amazon Prime Video membership starts at £5.99 a month. Alternatively, the streaming platform offers a free 30-day trial of its full £8.99 a month package, which comes with other benefits including free Amazon delivery. This can be cancelled at any time.
The squads
Ireland squad
Ulster hooker Tom Stewart was one of four uncapped players in Ireland’s 42-man training squad to prepare for the Rugby World Cup. Leinster duo Jamie Osborne and Ciaran Frawley were also included, along with Munster’s Calvin Nash.
Ireland captain Johnny Sexton is also in the squad despite not playing since the Six Nations with a groin injury.
Andy Farrell will announce a 33-player World Cup squad following his side’s four warm-up matches against Italy (5 August) and England (19 August) in Dublin, plus Samoa in France (26 August).
Forwards: Ryan Baird, Finlay Bealham, Tadhg Beirne, Jack Conan, Gavin Coombes, Caelan Doris, Tadhg Furlong, Cian Healy, Iain Henderson, Rob Herring, Ronan Kelleher, Dave Kilcoyne, Joe McCarthy, Peter O’Mahony, Tom O’Toole, Andrew Porter, Cian Prendergast, James Ryan, Dan Sheehan, Tom Stewart, Kieran Treadwell, Josh van der Flier.
Backs: Bundee Aki, Caolin Blade, Ross Byrne, Craig Casey, Jack Crowley, Keith Earls, Ciaran Frawley, Jamison Gibson-Park, Mack Hansen, Robbie Henshaw, Hugo Keenan, James Lowe, Stuart McCloskey, Conor Murray, Calvin Nash, Jimmy O’Brien, Jamie Osborne, Garry Ringrose, Jonathan Sexton, Jacob Stockdale.
England squad
Owen Farrell is set to miss the match after his red card during the win over Wales at Twickenham. It is yet to be decided how many matches the fly-half will be ineligible for, but he is all but certain to miss this trip to Dublin.
Also likely to miss the match is Jack van Poortvliet. The scrum-half hobbled off the Twickenham pitch on Saturday with what looked like a serious ankle injury. We are yet to learn how long the knock will rule the Leicester man out for.
Those issues came at the end of a week that had started with Steve Borthwick naming his World Cup squad. The big news was Henry Slade and No 8 Alex Dombrandt being left out.
Slade has been an automatic pick in the midfield for much of the last six years, appearing in 30 of the last 37 Tests since the 2019 World Cup, but has been overlooked for the 33-man squad.
Instead, he has lost out to Joe Marchant, who covers the wing as well as outside center and played his way into the squad after emerging from Saturday’s loss to Wales with his reputation enhanced.
The exclusion of Dombrandt means Billy Vunipola is the only specialist No. 8 heading to the tournament in France starting next month.
Dombrandt started every match in this year’s Six Nations but didn’t impress and had an unimpressive display in Cardiff on Saturday, too.
Vunipola was chosen despite not having played since April because of two knee operations. He missed the entire Six Nations after being left out by Borthwick because of his form.
Lewis Ludlam, Ben Earl and Tom Curry cover No. 8 and are among versatile forwards that also include rookie pair Ollie Chessum and George Martin.
Other big names to miss out are wingers Jonny May and Joe Cokanasiga, who played in the Rugby World Cup in 2019.
England’s 2023 Rugby World Cup squad
Forwards: Ollie Chessum, Dan Cole, Tom Curry, Theo Dan, Ben Earl, Ellis Genge, Jamie George, Maro Itoje, Courtney Lawes, Lewis Ludlam, Joe Marler, George Martin, David Ribbans, Bevan Rodd, Kyle Sinckler, Will Stuart, Billy Vunipola, Jack Walker, Jack Willis.
Backs: Henry Arundell, Danny Care, Elliot Daly, Owen Farrell, George Ford, Ollie Lawrence, Max Malins, Joe Marchant, Marcus Smith, Freddie Steward, Manu Tuilagi, Jack van Poortvliet, Anthony Watson, Ben Youngs.
Latest news
Ireland will be counting their lucky stars after captain Johnny Sexton managed to avoid a six-match ban for swearing at match officials which would have ruled him out of the opening games of the World Cup.