Ireland's bid to continue their recent dominance of the Six Nations starts in Dublin on Saturday where England provide the opposition
Ireland v England, Saturday 1st February, Dublin, KO 18:45 (South African time)
Referee: Ben O'Keeffe (NZR)
Assistant Referees: James Doleman (NZR), Hollie Davidson (SRU)
TMO: Glenn Newman (NZR)
Weather Forecast – Dublin
Ireland
Ireland came into the Six Nations in 2024 as favourites and they successfully defended the title finishing 5 points clear of France. A 23-22 defeat to England at Twickenham in Round 4 torpedoed hopes of another Grand Slam whilst their four other matches ended in victory; in France (38-17), at home to Italy (36-0), at home to Wales (31-7) and at home to Scotland (17-13).
Most recently in the November internationals on home turf Ireland started with a 23-13 defeat to the All Blacks before they got the better of Argentina (22-19) and Australia (also 22-19) either side of a 52-17 victory over Fiji. Ireland's 2024 mid year tour of South Africa saw the series shared 1-1. They lost the first test 27-20 but squared things up with a nail biting 25-24 victory in the second contest.
In the outright betting markets with WSB Ireland are currently 17/10 second favourites to win the title, 27/20 for the triple crown and 7/2 for the grand slam
Fixtures & Results: R1 England (h), R2 Scotland (a), R3 Wales (a), R4 France (h), R5 Italy (a)
England
In the Six Nations last year England finished third with their stand out result being a 23-22 victory over Ireland at Twickenham in Round 4 which ultimately denied Ireland another Grand Slam. They started that tournament with a 27-24 win in Italy and then beat Wales 16-14 at Twickenham. Next up they went down 30-21 in Scotland and after turning the Irish over they finished up by going down 33-31 in France.
Most recently in the November internationals at Twickenham England were edged out 24-22 by New Zealand and 42-37 by the Wallabies. They then lost 29-20 to the Springboks before rounding off with a 59-14 win over Japan. In July 2024 they took on the All Blacks in a 2 match series in New Zealand. They put in 2 big performances, edged out in the first test 16-15 and they went down in the second test 24-17. England had tuned up for that tour with a 52-17 victory over Japan in Tokyo.
In the outright betting markets with WSB England are currently 4/1 to win the title, 9/2 for the triple crown and 10/1 for the grand slam
Fixtures & Results: R1 Ireland (a), R2 France (h), R3 Scotland (h), R4 Italy (h), R5 Wales (a)
Team News
Ireland: 15 Hugo Keenan, 14 Mack Hansen, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 James Lowe, 10 Sam Prendergast, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Caelan Doris (c), 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Ryan Baird, 5 Tadhg Beirne, 4 James Ryan, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Rónan Kelleher, 1 Andrew Porter
Replacements: 16 Dan Sheehan, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Thomas Clarkson, 19 Iain Henderson, 20 Jack Conan, 21 Conor Murray, 22 Jack Crowley, 23 Robbie Henshaw
England: 15 Freddie Steward, 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 12 Henry Slade, 11 Cadan Murley, 10 Marcus Smith, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Ben Earl, 7 Ben Curry, 6 Tom Curry, 5 George Martin, 4 Maro Itohe (captain), 3 Will Stuart, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 1 Ellis Genge.
Replacements: 16 Theo Dan, 17 Fin Baxter, 18 Joe Heyes, 19 Ollie Chessum, 20 Chandler Cunningham-South, 21 Tom Willis, 22 Harry Randall, 23 Fin Smith
Head to Head (6 Nations Only)
2024 6N Twickenham England 23-22 Ireland
2023 6N Dublin Ireland 29-16 England
2022 6N Twickenham England 15-32 Ireland
2021 6N Dublin Ireland 32-18 England
2020 6N Twickenham England 24–12 Ireland
2019 6N Dublin Ireland 20-32 England
2018 6N Twickenham England 15–24 Ireland
2017 6N Dublin Ireland 13-9 England
The Betting
Average early show, to be updated
Ireland -7.5 points at 9/10
England +7.5 points at 9/10
Note, odds quoted are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change.
Betting Angle
to follow
Bet: to follow
Note, odds are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
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