England and Ireland Teams for Twickenham Clash

[Thequeerone]

England v Ireland: Teams
At Twickenham, Saturday March 15, kick-off 3pm

Captain Phil Vickery insists England are on the verge of becoming "a bloody good team" despite their troubled RBS Six Nations campaign.

Having entered the competition on the back of reaching the World Cup, England slumped to defeats to Wales and Scotland, while they were lucky to leave Rome with the win after an appalling second half.

However, with Ireland's visit to Twickenham bringing the curtain down on the tournament for England, Vickery believes the future is bright.

Vickery said: "We, as a group of players, have to stand up this weekend.

"But we are not actually far away from being a bloody good team, I honestly believe that.

"I think we are low on confidence, I don't doubt that for a second. When you are winning, losing, winning, losing, it doesn't do a great deal for momentum.

"For us, some of it is not quick-fix and will take a little bit of time, but we have to get better. I look around and see some pretty special talent."

One of the special talents is Danny Cipriani, with the Wasps fly-half set for his first start for England.

Cipriani replaces Jonny Wilkinson in the only change to the side beaten 15-9 by Scotland at Murrayfield.

Pride

Ireland winger Rob Kearney believes that victory over England will restore some pride.

Like their rivals at Twickenham, Ireland have endured a troubled campaign - losing to France and Wales, while struggling against Italy.

However Kearney is determined to sign off the competition on a positive note.

"There is a sense that beating England will right a lot of the wrongs of this year's Six Nations," the Leinster winger said.

"Beating England at Twickenham is a formidable challenge and it's a great achievement when you manage it.

"Winning would mean we've finished the Six Nations on a high and give us a boost before the summer tour.

"On paper there's nothing left to play for, but inside we all know there's a huge amount to play for."

Kearney has swapped the No.15 shirt for the wing after Geordan Murphy was passed fit, while Ireland go into the game without skipper Brian O'Driscoll - Shane Horgan gets the start at centre.

England: 15 I Balshaw (Gloucester), 14 P Sackey (Wasps), 13 J Noon (Newcastle), 12 T Flood (Newcastle), 11 L Vainikolo (Gloucester), 10 D Cipriani (Wasps), 9 R Wigglesworth (Sale Sharks), 1 A Sheridan (Sale Sharks), 2 L Mears (Bath), 3 P Vickery (Wasps, capt), 4 S Shaw (Wasps), 5 S Borthwick (Bath), 6 T Croft (Leicester), 7 M Lipman (Bath), 8 N Easter (Harlequins).
Replacements: 16 G Chuter (Leicester), 17 M Stevens (Bath), 18 B Kay (Leicester), 19 J Haskell (Wasps), 20 P Hodgson (London Irish), 21 J Wilkinson (Newcastle), 22 M Tait (Newcastle).

Ireland: 15 G Murphy (Leicester), 14 T Bowe (Ulster), 13 A Trimble (Ulster), 12 S Horgan (Leinster), 11 R Kearney (Leinster), 10 R O'Gara (Munster, capt), 9 E Reddan (Wasps), 1 M Horan (Munster), 2 R Best (Ulster), 3 J Hayes (Munster), 4 D O'Callaghan (Munster), 5 P O'Connell (Munster), 6 D Leamy (Munster), 7 D Wallace (Munster), 8 J Heaslip (Leinster).
Replacements: 16 B Jackman (Leinster), 17 T Buckley (Munster), 18 M O'Driscoll (Munster), 19 S Easterby (Llanelli), 20 P Stringer (Munster), 21 P Wallace (Ulster), 22 L Fitzgerald (Leinster).

[GIGS20]

What a retarded way to name a team list? where did you pick this one up TQ1?

[Thequeerone]

Sky sports - this must be the fashionable way of doing it in Europe cause most sites do it this way - thought the English Slant might be more interesting this week - just cause Burgs ain't here to fix it

[jargan83]

Go Ireland