Ireland host England as Six Nations opening weekend concludes with a blockbuster clash in Dublin this afternoon. The hosts are the reigning back-to-back champions of this competition, denied historic consecutive Grand Slams only by Marcus Smith’s last-gasp drop goal in a Twickenham thriller last March. Now they will be looking for revenge for that defeat and quickly answer favourites France’s 43-0 demolition of Wales on Friday night.
It is a hugely difficult start to his third Six Nations campaign in charge for Steve Borthwick, who is under pressure for results after England, despite leading in several games against the world’s best teams and pushing them all close, won just five of their 12 Tests in 2024. Today’s showdown is followed by the visit of France and Scotland, so there is no chance of easing themselves into the tournament.
Borthwick has sprung a few selection surprises for this game with both Curry twins starting and a debut for Cadan Murley, while Ireland’s stand-in boss Simon Easterby - filling in for Lions coach Andy Farrell - has picked Sam Prendergast at fly-half. Follow Ireland vs England live below, with expert analysis from Standard Sport’s Simon Collings at the Aviva Stadium!
Ireland vs England latest news
Kick-off: 4:40pm GMT | Aviva Stadium
How to watch: ITV
Ireland team news: Prendergast gets nod at fly-half
England team news: Curry twins and Murley start
Score prediction
Ireland team news
14:18 , George Flood
Simon Easterby, taking the reins as Ireland head coach for the Six Nations with usual boss Andy Farrell currently preparing for this summer’s Lions tour of Australia, has made two changes to the team that edged to a comeback win over Joe Schmidt’s resurgent Wallabies in their final autumn international in Dublin in November.
Garry Ringrose is preferred to Robbie Henshaw alongside Bundee Aki in the centres, while there’s a rare start in the back row for Ryan Baird, with Tadhg Beirne shifting into the second row due to an injury to Joe McCarthy.
Sam Prendergast gets the nod over Jack Crowley in a big call at fly-half, while James Lowe is back on the wing and Finlay Bealham continues at tighthead prop with Tadhg Furlong out injured again.
Star hooker Dan Sheehan also returns from injury, though he starts on the bench with Ronan Kelleher retaining the No2 jersey for now.
How to watch Ireland vs England
14:13 , George Flood
TV channel: Today’s contest is being broadcast live and free-to-air in the UK on ITV1, with coverage beginning at 4pm GMT.
Live stream: Fans can also catch live coverage of the game online via ITVX, which is free with a registration.
Ireland vs England live
14:10 , George Flood
Hello and welcome to Standard Sport‘s live coverage of Ireland vs England in the Six Nations.
A blockbuster clash in Dublin both headlines and concludes round one of the 2025 competition, with fireworks and drama absolutely guaranteed in what is likely to be a thrilling showdown between these old rivals.
Kick-off this afternoon is at 4:40pm GMT, so stick with us for all your match build-up, team news and live updates, including expert analysis from Simon Collings at the Aviva Stadium.
