What England can expect from the Aviva Stadium on Saturday

Interim boss Simon Easterby expects Dublin to be “bouncing” for Ireland’s Guinness Six Nations curtain-raiser against England.

A capacity crowd of just under 52,000 awaits Steve Borthwick side at the Aviva Stadium as the hosts begin their pursuit of a third-consecutive title.

While Ireland have an enviable home record since permanent head coach Andy Farrell succeeded Joe Schmidt after the 2019 World Cup, winning 28 of 30 fixtures, recent matches at Lansdowne Road have often taken place in subdued atmospheres.

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Easterby challenged his players to ensure supporters were fired up on Saturday evening.

“I don’t expect this place to be anything other than bouncing,” he said.

Fixture

Six Nations

Ireland

27 - 22

Full-time

England

All Stats and Data

“It is England at home, first game of the Six Nations. It is so exciting to have this first up.

“When we play well and give the crowd that type of experience on the pitch, they have bought into it and generated a great atmosphere.

“So we have a responsibility as a team to ensure that we get the crowd onside and use that to our advantage.”

Easterby has made two personnel changes to the team which began the 22-19 autumn win over Australia – Farrell’s final match before stepping aside to focus on leading the British and Irish Lions.

Centre Garry Ringrose has replaced Robbie Henshaw, while Ryan Baird starts at blindside flanker, with Tadhg Beirne pushing forward into the second row in the absence of injured lock Joe McCarthy.

Easterby insisted his side had not altered their approach to the match on the back of England’s decision to name their team two days early.

Rival head coach Borthwick, who announced his line-up on Tuesday, sprung a surprise by uniting twin brothers Tom and Ben Curry in a back row also containing Ben Earl, while debutant Cadan Murley was given the nod ahead of Ollie Sleightholme on the left wing.

“I think knowing that team early, it just gave us a little bit more of an indication of how they might play the game, but it doesn’t change our strategy or mentality for how we want to play the game,” said Easterby.

“It’s up to them if they want to release it; whenever they release it, that’s their call. We focused a lot this last 11 days that we’ve been together on what we do best.

“Part of that is how we deal with them, certainly, but most of that is how we put our own game into practice.”