Ireland v England: Cian Prendergast handed first Irish start in strong team for World Cup warm-up

Prendergast will win his third Ireland cap after two appearances from the bench

Back-rower Cian Prendergast has been handed his first Ireland start as head coach Andy Farrell names a strong side for Saturday's World Cup warm-up match against England in Dublin.

Prendergast will start at number eight in a team very similar to that which sealed the Grand Slam in March.

Bundee Aki and Garry Ringrose are the centre partnership with Ross Byrne at fly-half.

The starting XV from the win over Italy two weeks ago has completely changed.

• Ford starts at fly-half for England as Farrell waits on appeal

That was the first of Ireland's three warm-up games ahead of next month's World Cup in France - their final fixture is against Samoa in France next Saturday.

Second row James Ryan captains the side against England with wing Keith Earls in line to win his 100th Test cap in green should he feature off the bench.

Eleven of the team that started the win over England in March - a victory which secured the Grand Slam title for Ireland - are named for Saturday evening's match at the Aviva Stadium.

Connacht back rower Prendergast, 23, has played flanker for most of his career but has been selected at number eight after having made his two previous Ireland appearances from the bench.

His chance comes after Jack Conan sustained a foot injury against Italy which prevented the Leinster back row going on last week's training camp to Portugal.

Ross Byrne replaces Jack Crowley at fly-half

With captain Johnny Sexton suspended for these three warm-up games, Byrne starts at fly-half after Jack Crowley, named on the bench this week, wore the number 10 shirt in the win over the Italians.

Hugo Keenan starts at full-back, with Mack Hansen and James Lowe on the wings and Jamison Gibson-Park at scrum-half. Stuart McCloskey and Robbie Henshaw were the centres against Italy, though neither is named among the replacements.

In the pack, Andrew Porter, Dan Sheehan and Tadhg Furlong form the front row, with Tadhg Beirne and Ryan in the second row. Peter O'Mahony comes back on the blindside with Josh van der Flier at openside.

Munster prop Jeremy Loughman was called into the Irish squad earlier this week as cover for Dave Kilcoyne, who is resting an injury, and is named among the replacements while back-rower Conan continues his recovery from a foot injury.

Ulster's Kieran Treadwell was among five players who were released from Ireland's World Cup squad on Thursday.

Treadwell, who won the last of his 11 caps against England in March, drops out alongside Caolin Blade, Gavin Coombes, Calvin Nash and Jamie Osborne.

'Warrior' Prendergast always improving - Farrell

Farrell has made 15 changes from the team that beat Italy

Farrell spoke about the strengths Prendergast has in his game - as well as a few things he has to work on - and said he is excited to see him play against England.

"I just see improvement all the time, you know," Farrell said on Thursday.

"He came to New Zealand with us very raw, came back into Connacht and, to be fair, he's always been a standout performer for Connacht, just because of his fight, his energy.

"He's a warrior of a type of player. He's fit, tough but there's all sorts of parts to his game that he needs to tidy up and over the last eight weeks we've seen that in abundance, so I'm excited to see him play at the weekend.

"His feel in around the game has improved, not just decision-making with ball in hand, which has made his skill level a lot better, but also his decision-making defensively.

"He's always been one to chase absolutely everything, whether it be a ball on the ground, and his discipline has been something that we have needed to talk about from time to time, but his all-round game is getting more balanced.

"I'm sure he is not going to be perfect at the weekend but I am excited to see him play."

Ireland: Keenan; Hansen, Ringrose, Aki, Lowe; Byrne, Gibson-Park; Porter, Sheehan, Furlong, Beirne, Ryan, O'Mahony, van der Flier, Prendergast.

Replacements: Herring, Loughman, Bealham, McCarthy, Doris, Murray, Crowley, Earls.