Key events
Handily enough, the Ireland team arrived in plenty of time for kick-off too:
As have the fans:
A healthy crowd was on hand outside Twickenham to welcome the Red Roses.
The last time England lost a Womenâs Six Nations match was in France, on 10 March 2018: an 18-17 loss against in Grenoble. As stated itâs 27 straight wins in this competition now, and today would make it 28.
Team news
Two changes for England: Marlie Packer, who began on the bench in last weekendâs win in Scotland, returns to the starting XV at No 7. Lark Atkin-Davies is back at hooker for the suspended Amy Cokayne who was sent off in the victory north of the border.
Hannah OâConnor starts in Irelandâs second row, replacing Sam Monaghan, while Aoife Dalton is selected at No 12, in place of Enya Breen.
England: 15 Kildunne, 14 Dow, 13 Jones, 12 Heard, 11 Breach, 10 Aitchison, 9 Hunt; 1 Botterman, 2 Atkin-Davies, 3 Muir, 4 Galligan, 5 Aldcroft, 6 Kabeya, 7 Packer, 8 Matthews Replacements: 16 Powell, 17 Carson, 18 Clifford, 19 Talling, 20 Feaunati, 21 Packer, 22 Scarratt, 23 Gregson
Ireland: 15 Delany; 14 Corrigan, 13 Higgins, 12 Dalton, 11 Parsons, 10 OâBrien, 9 Reilly; 1 Linda Djougang, 2 Jones, 3 Haney, 4 Wall, 5 OâConnor, 6 Wafer, 7 McMahon (c), 8 Hogan. Replacements: 16 Moloney, 17 OâDowd, 18 McGrath, 19 Tuite, 20 Ikahihifo, 21 Scuffil-McCabe, 22 Breen, 23 Deely.
Preamble
The Red Roses continue to bloom. England are three from three in the Womenâs Six Nations and victory against Ireland today will potentially set up a grand-slam decider against France next week â provided Les Bleues defeat Wales tomorrow.
More worryingly from an Irish point of view, they have not beaten England since 2015, and not even mustered a single point against them since 2019. Around 50,000 supporters will be inside Twickenham this afternoon, the majority of them hoping for Englandâs 28th consecutive âWâ in this tournament.
The powerful home pack has lately been complimented by an increasingly expansive attack so if Englandâs set-piece functions well, this is realistically a question of how many points England will score. Ireland will no doubt have something to say about that â but can they defend well enough to give John Mitchellâs team a scare?
Kick-off: 2.15pm BST
