For Ireland’s upcoming Guinness Six Nations match against England at Twickenham on Saturday, with a 4.45pm kick-off, Hugo Keenan has been reinstated as the fullback. Unfortunately for James Ryan, his subpar Championship run has ended, and there are concerns about his fitness for Leinster after the Six Nations, following a strange bicep injury during training.
The team’s starting XV will only see one change from the 31-7 victory over Wales, with Keenan’s comeback. Ciarán Frawley will return to wearing his number 23 jersey, the same he had on during the initial success against France in Marseille, and during his full Test debut where he scored a try when deputised for Keenan against Wales.
Even though he’s fully recovered from the shoulder injury that made him miss the first three wins, the high-profile international player, Garry Ringrose will not feature, largely due to the decision to have a 6-2 bench split. He, however, is in London with the rest of the team. James Ryan would have been a substitute, but he injured his bicep in a training incident, as revealed by Andy Farrell. Consequently, he won’t be part of this Six Nations remaining games.
Ryan’s injury specifics are yet to be ascertained but if he has a torn bicep, he may be benched for up to three months, like Ross Byrne post-World Cup. On a brighter note, Ireland’s second-row reserves are strong enough to summon the seasoned 32-year-old Ulster captain Iain Henderson, earning his 81st cap.
Finlay Bealham is the last bench change, returning to his usual tighthead backup position ahead of Oli Jager, who debuted as a substitute against Wales. According to the head coach, Jager is having minor knee issues. The win against Wales marked only the fifth out of the last 37 Ireland test games since February 2021 that the relentless Keenan has not played in.
Farrell voiced his thoughts about Keenan’s comeback being an enriching factor for any world rugby team. He praised Keenan for his top-notch fullback skills and credited his resilient effort over the past few weeks to qualify for the upcoming weekend game. Despite Ringrose’s considerable contribution, Farrell announced that he could not make it to the squad, a decision influenced by various circumstances. Though fit to play, Ringrose, according to Farrell, understood the situation well and took it positively.
Farrell’s changeover to a 6-2 layout on the bench, first adopted against France and reused successfully against Wales, was another pivotal decision. He explained that this configuration was a strategic call made based on the fitness and form of the players, the squad’s position and what stands in the best interest of Ireland. He added that such calls are taken on a game-by-game basis considering each player’s fitnes status.
When asked about Ireland’s offensive flow being somewhat hampered in their previous two Championship clashes against England, despite leading to victories (32-15 in Twickenham, and 29-16 victory securing the Grand Slam at the Aviva stadium), where England played with 14 men due to red cards for lock Charlie Ewels and fullback Freddie Steward, Farrell stated that it was challenging to predict what the outcome of the game would be. He clarified that England’s tactics played a significant part in Ireland’s performance and he commended them for their efforts to slow Ireland down in the last season.
The game was laden with pauses and not solely due to blunders, the pace was indeed sluggish. It’s uncertain if this is a deliberate strategy from the other team, but in all probability, we may encounter a similar scenario.
As far as our approach is concerned, we tend to focus on every singular minute in the game. That is simply how the game is played. This time last year, in retrospect, we had the same mindset. Looking back at the match against Wales a few weeks ago, we had hoped to improve our performance then too, and the aim remains the same even today.
In the impending England match, the Irish team includes the following players: Hugo Keenan, Robbie Henshaw, Bundee Aki, James Lowe from Leinster; Calvin Nash, Jack Crowley from Munster; as well as Andrew Porter, Dan Sheehan, Tadhg Furlong, Joe McCarthy from Leinster. Other participants include Tadhg Beirne and Peter O’Mahony from Munster, with O’Mahony acting as captain, Jamison Gibson-Park, Josh van der Flier, Caealan Doris from Leinster. Our substitutes list comprises of Rónan Kelleher, Cian Healy, Ryan Baird, Jack Conan, Ciarán Frawley from Leinster, Finlay Bealham from Connacht, and Iain Henderson, Conor Murray from Munster.