Northampton Saints’ Tommy Freeman and Alex Mitchell will both start for England this weekend, as Steve Borthwick’s side begin their 2025 Guinness Six Nations against Ireland on Saturday 1 February (kick-off: 4.45pm) – with fellow Saint Fin Smith named amongst the replacements.
27-year-old Mitchell returned to the England set-up earlier this week after recovering from the injury he sustained in Saints’ Gallagher Premiership clash with Bath Rugby and starts at scrum-half in Dublin to earn his 19th cap, while Freeman joins his Northampton teammate to start on England’s wing against Ireland.
Steve Borthwick opts for a six-two bench for his side’s first match of the tournament, with fly-half Smith primed to earn a seventh cap as he is named as backs cover at the Aviva Stadium.
“We’re looking forward to the challenge of facing the tournament favourites,” said head coach Borthwick.
“We know it’ll be a tough contest against a team that’s very familiar with each other. We’ll need to work tirelessly and maintain our discipline from the first whistle to the last.
“England versus Ireland in Dublin is a huge occasion, and we’ll be ready to face it head-on.”
ENGLAND SIDE TO FACE IRELAND
15 Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers, 35 caps)
14 Tommy Freeman (Northampton Saints, 15 caps)
13 Ollie Lawrence (Bath Rugby, 31 caps)
12 Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs, 69 caps)
11 Cadan Murley (Harlequins, uncapped)
10 Marcus Smith (Harlequins, 39 caps)
9 Alex Mitchell (Northampton Saints, 18 caps)
1 Ellis Genge (Bristol Bears, 66 caps) – vice-captain
2 Luke Cowan-Dickie (Sale Sharks, 44 caps)
3 Will Stuart (Bath Rugby, 45 caps)
4 Maro Itoje (Saracens, 88 caps) – captain
5 George Martin (Leicester Tigers, 19 caps)
6 Tom Curry (Sale Sharks, 56 caps)
7 Ben Curry (Sale Sharks, 6 caps)
8 Ben Earl (Saracens, 37 caps)
Replacements:
16 Theo Dan (Saracens, 16 caps)
17 Fin Baxter (Harlequins, 6 caps)
18 Joe Heyes (Leicester Tigers, 7 caps)
19 Ollie Chessum (Leicester Tigers, 23 caps)
20 Chandler Cunningham-South (Harlequins, 11 caps)
21 Tom Willis (Saracens, 1 cap)
22 Harry Randall (Bristol Bears, 11 caps)
23 Fin Smith (Northampton Saints, 6 caps)
