England vs Ireland, Six Nations 2024: Kick-off time, TV channel, live stream, team news, lineups, h2h, odds
England actually started well in Edinburgh following scrappy opening wins over Italy and Wales, but Duhan van der Merwe’s stunning hat-trick put paid to any hope of only a second victory over the auld enemy since 2017.
Now, with their own modest Grand Slam hopes over, the hosts face the unenviable task of trying to halt the formidable Green Machine, with Ireland currently firmly on course to become the first nation to claim back-to-back Grand Slam titles in the Six Nations era.
Andy Farrell’s team have shown absolutely no signs whatsoever of a lingering hangover from their latest World Cup heartbreak in the autumn, putting all of France, Italy and Wales to the sword so far before seeking a fifth successive win over England and second in a row at Twickenham that would leave only Scotland standing in the way of rugby history at the Aviva Stadium next weekend.
England vs Ireland date, kick-off time and venue
England vs Ireland takes place on Saturday March 9, 2024, with kick-off scheduled for 4:45pm GMT.
The match will be held at Twickenham Stadium in south-west London.
How to watch England vs Ireland
TV channel: England vs Ireland is being broadcast live and free-to-air in the UK on ITV1, with coverage beginning at 4:20pm after the conclusion of Italy vs Scotland from Rome on the same channel.
Live stream: A live stream service can be accessed for free online via the ITVX app and ITVX website.
Live blog: Standard Sport’s match blog, featuring expert analysis from our rugby correspondent Nick Purewal at Twickenham.
England vs Ireland team news
England have been hugely boosted by the return of half-back duo Marcus Smith and Alex Mitchell to Borthwick’s squad after injury, the former having yet to play at this Six Nations due to a calf strain suffered in a pre-tournament training camp in Spain and the latter having missed the defeat by Scotland with a knee injury.
Smith will be expected to replace George Ford as the starting fly-half if fit enough, while Mitchell should resume scrum-half duties next to him with veteran deputy Danny Care likely to earn his 100th cap off the bench after starting at Murrayfield.
Exeter wing Immanuel Feyi-Waboso is also back in contention after missing last week’s three-day training camp in York due to a university medical exam.
Tom Pearson, Harry Randall and Max Ojomoh have all been released from England’s training squad following the returns of Smith, Mitchell and Feyi-Waboso, though Bath’s Will Muir remains with the group.
Ireland, meanwhile, are expected to have centre Garry Ringrose and full-back Hugo Keenan fit for Saturday’s clash at Twickenham, along with lock Iain Henderson and prop Oli Jager.
Marcus Smith is set to return from a calf injury as England meet Ireland this weekend
Zac Goodwin/PA Wire
Keenan and Henderson both missed the win over Wales due to foot and knee issues respectively, while centre Ringrose has yet to feature at the Six Nations after injuring his shoulder on Champions Cup duty for Leinster against Leicester back in January and Jager suffered his own knee problem after making his Ireland debut off the bench against Wales.
However, scrum coach John Fogarty told reporters on Tuesday that all four players were now back in training preparing to face England.
England vs Ireland lineups
Both Steve Borthwick and Andy Farrell are due to name their respective matchday squads on Thursday. Check back in then to see both lineups in full.
England vs Ireland head to head (h2h) history and results
England won four games in a row against Ireland across all competitions between 2019 and 2020, though have now lost four on the spin dating back to March 2021.
Ireland won 32-15 on their last Six Nations visit to Twickenham in 2022 after Charlie Ewels’ early red card, while they clinched their fourth Grand Slam with a 29-16 triumph over their old rivals in Dublin last March before also winning a World Cup warm-up game on home soil 29-10 in the summer.
A red card has been a constant theme of England’s defeats by Ireland over recent years, with the likes of Billy Vunipola and Freddie Steward also sent off in meetings between the two nations.
England vs Ireland prediction
It is extremely difficult to see how England can hope to spoil Ireland’s dreams of successive Six Nations Grand Slams this weekend.
The Men in Green are currently operating on a completely different level to any other team in the northern hemisphere, ruthless, physical, confident and so remarkably well-drilled with such a settled team that is in stark contrast to the constant chopping and changing of new-look England.
There were aspects of the home wins over Italy and Wales that weren’t quite up to standard, but ultimately they were both still extremely comfortable results.
Ireland had little trouble in seeing off Wales in Six Nations round three in Dublin
AP
A trip to Twickenham will hold absolutely no fear for Ireland, who have consistently got the better of England in recent years and often with a handy numerical advantage.
England were on the front foot and aggressive early on against Scotland, but were lax and punished thereafter. It is hard not to foresee a similar scenario here, but with the potential for the punishment to be far more severe.
After a shock run to the World Cup semi-finals in the autumn that followed a truly dismal 2023 prior to that, Borthwick’s side have yet to find their footing at the Six Nations and, with a tough trip to France to come on Super Saturday, face the worrying but very real prospect of winning only two matches in the competition for the fourth year in succession.
