Ireland host England at Aviva Stadium in Round 5 of the 2021 Six Nations; Jacob Stockdale, Bundee Aki, Conor Murray, Dave Kilcoyne, Josh van der Flier, Jack Conan all called in to start; Garry Ringrose, James Ryan, Will Connors injured; Peter O'Mahony returns to bench; James Lowe dropped
Friday 19 March 2021 14:36, UK
Andy Farrell has rung six changes to his Ireland team to face England in the Six Nations in Dublin on Saturday, with Conor Murray, Jacob Stockdale and Bundee Aki among the returnees.
Murray replaces Jamison Gibson-Park at scrum-half - the latter named on the bench - while Stockdale comes onto the left wing in place of the dropped James Lowe.
In midfield, Aki joins former Connacht teammate Robbie Henshaw with Garry Ringrose out injured - Henshaw making the positional switch from 12 to 13, to accommodate Aki at inside-centre.
Full-back Hugo Keenan, right wing Keith Earls and out-half Johnny Sexton remain in situ.
In the forwards, there are three further changes, one of which sees Munster loosehead prop Dave Kilcoyne start ahead of Cian Healy, while Tadhg Beirne moves from blindside flanker into the second row with James Ryan out injured.
The back-row is completely reconfigured with CJ Stander - who announced his impending retirement on Wednesday - shifting from No 8 to blindside, Josh van der Flier replacing Will Connors (out with a knee injury) at openside and Jack Conan coming in at No 8.
Hooker Rob Herring and tighthead Tadhg Furlong complete the front row with Kilcoyne, while Iain Henderson lines out again in the second row with Beirne.
Among the replacements, Munster skipper Peter O'Mahony is back in the squad following suspension, with the rest of the squad unchanged.
Ronan Kelleher, Healy, Andrew Porter, Ryan Baird, O'Mahony, Gibson-Park, Billy Burns and Jordan Larmour make up the bench in full.
Ireland: 15 Hugo Keenan, 14 Keith Earls, 13 Robbie Henshaw, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Johnny Sexton (c), 9 Conor Murray; 1 Dave Kilcoyne, 2 Rob Herring, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 4 Iain Henderson, 5 Tadhg Beirne, 6 CJ Stander, 7 Josh van der Flier, 8 Jack Conan.
Replacements: 16 Ronan Kelleher, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Andrew Porter, 19 Ryan Baird, 20 Peter O'Mahony, 21 Jamison Gibson-Park, 22 Billy Burns, 23 Jordan Larmour.
