Rugby World Cup 2015: Barritt and Parling in for England
- Published
England v Ireland |
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Venue: Twickenham Date: Saturday, 5 September (kick-off 14:30 BST) |
Coverage: Live commentary, 14:30 BST, BBC Radio 5 live, plus live text commentary online. TV highlights, 18:00 BST, BBC One. |
Brad Barritt will return from injury and Geoff Parling will feature in the second row as a near first-choice England side host Ireland in their last World Cup warm-up game on Saturday.
Defensive lynchpin Barritt, 29, who has not played for England since November 2014, starts at inside centre.
Rugby league convert Sam Burgess, who made his debut in the same position 10 days ago, is on the bench.
Tom Wood joins captain Chris Robshaw and Ben Morgan in the back row.
On the wing, Jonny May is given another chance to impress and he joins Anthony Watson and Mike Brown in the back three.
Barritt and Jonathan Joseph - understood to be England's preferred centre partnership - will start a Test together for the first time.
Radio 5 live rugby union reporter Chris Jones |
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"Stuart Lancaster has picked a near full-strength team in the final warm-up match. In the forwards he has sacrificed power in a bid to shore up the line-out, while Ben Morgan has a chance to improve his match fitness at number eight. But while there are still one or two places up for grabs in the pack, the same backline could well start against Fiji." |
Jamie George is the replacement hooker and will win his second cap if he comes off the bench, while number eight Morgan will look to build on the 40 minutes of action he had in the win against France last month as he returns from long-term injury.
"It's great to see Brad back along with the guys that missed the Six Nations such as Ben Morgan, Joe Launchbury and Owen Farrell, who now have a Test match under their belts," Lancaster said.
"It's a game we definitely want to win because it will build momentum heading into Fiji. We'll know more about our players after this weekend."
The World Cup takes place in England from 18 September to 31 October and kicks off when England face Fiji at Twickenham in two and a half weeks' time.
England: Mike Brown (Harlequins); Anthony Watson (Bath Rugby), Jonathan Joseph (Bath Rugby), Brad Barritt (Saracens), Jonny May (Gloucester Rugby); George Ford (Bath Rugby), Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers); Joe Marler (Harlequins), Tom Youngs (Leicester Tigers), Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers), Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints), Geoff Parling, Tom Wood (Northampton Saints), Chris Robshaw (capt, Harlequins), Ben Morgan (Gloucester Rugby).
Replacements: Jamie George (Saracens), Mako Vunipola (Saracens), Kieran Brookes (Northampton Saints), Joe Launchbury (Wasps), Billy Vunipola (Saracens), Richard Wigglesworth (Saracens), Owen Farrell (Saracens), Sam Burgess (Bath Rugby).
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