Six Nations: England pick brothers Tom and Ben Curry to start together for first time vs Ireland in Dublin

3 weeks ago 25

Brothers Tom and Ben Curry will start together for England for the first time in the side that takes on Ireland in Saturday's Six Nations opener at the Aviva Stadium.

The team also sees lock Maro Itoje captain England from the start of a Test for the first time, becoming the 136th player to do so in the history of England rugby.

Luke Cowan-Dickie starts at hooker with former captain Jamie George ruled out with a hamstring injury, while wing Cadan Murley will make his Test debut in a back-three with Tommy Freeman and Freddie Steward.

The front row is then made up of Ellis Genge at loosehead prop and Will Stuart at tighthead, with George Martin partnering skipper Itoje in the second row, and Ben Earl at No 8 completing the pack alongside the 26-year-old Curry twins in the back row.

Twitter This content is provided by Twitter, which may be using cookies and other technologies. To show you this content, we need your permission to use cookies. You can use the buttons below to amend your preferences to enable Twitter cookies or to allow those cookies just once. You can change your settings at any time via the Privacy Options. Unfortunately we have been unable to verify if you have consented to Twitter cookies. To view this content you can use the button below to allow Twitter cookies for this session only.

Alex Mitchell and Marcus Smith will link up once again in the half-backs, while Ollie Lawrence and Henry Slade will play in the centres.

Theo Dan, Fin Baxter, Joe Heyes, Ollie Chessum, Chandler Cunningham-South, Tom Willis, Harry Randall and Fin Smith then make up the replacements' bench, with six forwards and two backs.

Championship record

Outright titles - 29 (Six Nations in bold)

1883, 1884, 1892, 1910, 1913, 1914, 1921, 1923, 1924, 1928, 1930, 1934, 1937, 1953, 1957, 1958, 1963, 1980, 1991, 1992, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2011, 2016, 2017, 2020

"We're looking forward to the challenge of facing the tournament favourites," said head coach Steve Borthwick.

"We know it'll be a tough contest against a team that's very familiar with each other. We'll need to work tirelessly and maintain our discipline from the first whistle to the last.

"England versus Ireland in Dublin is a huge occasion, and we'll be ready to face it head-on."

England team vs Ireland

Starting XV: 15 Freddie Steward, 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 12 Henry Slade, 11 Cadan Murley, 10 Marcus Smith, 9 Alex Mitchell; 1 Ellis Genge, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 3 Will Stuart, 4 Maro Itoje (c) 5 George Martin, 6 Tom Curry, 7 Ben Curry, 8 Ben Earl.

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.