The Likely Ireland & England Teams For This Weekend’s Six Nations Finale

As you were.

Ireland and England clash in Dublin this weekend but things have panned a lot different than we had originally hoped.

There’s no Grand Slam on the line for Ireland, there isn’t even a championship, but that doesn’t mean there’s nothing to play for. Ireland need a win to ensure they stay among the top ranked sides in the world rankings with the Rugby World Cup 2019 pool draw looming.

England on the other hand will march to the Aviva full of confidence, knowing they can create history- and what better place to do it than in Dublin against Ireland. A win will make them the first team to have ever recoded back-to-back Grand Slams (its’s only been done when it was the 5 nations) and will ensure they beat the All Blacks unbeaten Test record, having tied them with the demolition of Scotland.

There have been plenty of calls all week for Schmidt to make some changes after Friday’s disappointment, but it appears the former Leinster boss will once again stick to his guns, and his stalwarts.

The Kiwi is expected to go with an unchanged side, but the good news is we may finally see Jared Payne back in green as he is expected to take the injured Tommy Bowe’s spot on the replacements bench.

Naturally Eddie Jones is expected to do likewise and go with the same side that demolished Scotland, with the Vunipola brother’s set to remain on the bench along with the likes of Anthony Watson and former Leinster centre Ben Te’o. Jones’ ‘finishers’ as he likes to call them, could very well be the difference on Saturday.

Ireland (possible): R Kearney; K Earls, G Ringrose, R Henshaw, S Zebo; J Sexton, C Murray; J McGrath, R Best (c), T Furlong; D Ryan, D Toner; CJ Stander, S O’Brien, J Heaslip.

Replacements: N Scannell, C Healy, J Ryan, I Henderson, P O’Mahony, K Marmion, P Jackson, J Payne.

England (possible): M Brown; J Nowell, J Joseph, O Farrell, E Daly; G Ford, B Youngs; J Marler, D Hartley (c), D Cole; J Launchbury, C Lawes; M Itoje, J Haskell, N Hughes.

‘Finishers’: J George, M Vunipola, K Sinckler, T Wood, B Vunipola, D Care, B Te’o, A Watson