'Players have to earn the jersey. You don’t give a fella a ‘go’ in Twickenham. Life doesn’t work like that.'
That was Ronan O'Gara's assessment of things after the defeat in Paris. Although there's few Irish rugby fans who'd choose to ignore his opinion, it's fair to say that it's not one which everyone has shared over the past couple of weeks. With all the injuries it has simply come down to 'what do we have to lose by giving some of the younger players a run out'.
The reality of the situation has fallen somewhere in the middle. As expected, Joe Schmidt hasn't looked to completely rejig his starting XV ahead of the trip to Twickenham but there is some notable changed to the team that went down 10-9 to France in Paris two weeks ago.
After all the calls for his inclusion, Stuart McCloskey finally makes his Ireland debut after a series of fine performances for Ulster this season. Jared Payne didn't train with the squad today so McCloskey is in at 12 with Robbie Henshaw moving to 13. Elsewhere in the backs, Keith Earls has recovered to take his place on the wing with Dave Kearney already a confirmed absentee after exiting the Stade de France stage through injury.
In the forwards, there's another debutant in the form of Leinster's Josh van der Flier who replaces the injured Sean O'Brien while, as expected, Donnacha Ryan fills in at 4 with Mike McCarthy out for the rest of the season through concussion. The final change sees Mike Ross return from injury to slot in at front row in place of Nathan White.
Ireland team to face England:
(Continued below)
Backs
15. Rob Kearney
14. Andrew Trimble
13. Robbie Henshaw
12. Stuart McCloskey
11. Keith Earls
10. Johnny Sexton
9. Conor Murray
Forwards
1. Jack McGrath
2. Rory Best (c)
3. Mike Ross
4. Donnacha Ryan
5. Devin Toner
6. CJ Stander
7. Josh van der Flier
8. Jamie Heaslip
Replacements
Strauss, Healy, White, Dillane, Ruddock, Reddan, Madigan, Zebo
