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Tuilagi to make long-awaited England start in Dublin
By Peter Thompson
Manu Tuilagi will make his first England start since 2014 in the blockbuster Six Nations clash with Ireland but there is no place in the squad for Joe Launchbury or Mike Brown.
Tuilagi made his international comeback off the bench against Australia last November and will make up the centre pairing with Henry Slade in Dublin on Saturday, with Ben Te'o ruled out due to a side strain.
Locks Maro Itoje and George Kruis are paired together as Launchbury misses out and Courtney Lawes starts on the bench, while brothers Mako and Billy Vunipola are back among the pack.
Elliot Daly gets the nod at full-back as Brown is overlooked, with Owen Farrell captaining the side at fly-half.
Co-captain Dylan Hartley (knee) will not be involved at the Aviva Stadium, where Tom Curry and Mark Wilson will make their Six Nations debuts.
Jack Nowell and Jonny May start on the wings, with Chris Ashton named among the replacements along with uncapped scrum-half Dan Robson.
England: Elliot Daly, Jonny May, Henry Slade, Manu Tuilagi, Jack Nowell, Owen Farrell (captain), Ben Youngs; Mako Vunipola, Jamie George, Kyle Sinckler, Maro Itoje, George Kruis, Mark Wilson, Tom Curry, Billy Vunipola.
Replacements: Luke Cowan-Dickie, Ellis Genge, Harry Williams, Courtney Lawes, Nathan Hughes, Dan Robson, George Ford, Chris Ashton.
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Latest Comments
A good humoured game, good reffing. Big guys in Figi maybe a bit off the mark re playing in Northern Hemisphere. Good discipline for Ireland coming back to form. Doris is such a good captain and is everywhere on the field. New lads did well.
Go to commentsThey painted themselves in a corner because if they denied it, then they would have deemed to have had supplied it.
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