Aki and Marmion named in matchday 23 to face England

Bundee Aki and Kieran Marmion have again been included in Ireland’s matchday 23 for Saturday’s Grand Slam showdown with England in the Natwest Six Nations.

Aki is one of just two players to play in every minute of the tournament so far, contributing two tries as Ireland clinched the title with a game to spare. He starts at inside centre while Kieran Marmion is in line to have a say off the bench.

Rory Best earns cap number 111 and is partnered in the front row by Cian Healy and Tadhg Furlong.

Iain Henderson and James Ryan team up in the second row with Peter O'Mahony, Dan Leavy and CJ Stander lining out in the backrow.

Conor Murray and Johnny Sexton are the half-backs with Bundee Aki and Garry Ringrose linking up again in midfield. Keith Earls and Jacob Stockdale fill the wing positions with Rob Kearney at fullback.

The replacements are Sean Cronin, Jack McGrath, Andrew Porter, Devin Toner, Jordi Murphy, Kieran Marmion, Joey Carbery and Jordan Larmour.

IRELAND Team & Replacements (v England, 2018 NatWest 6 Nations Championship, Twickenham, Saturday, March 17, kick-off 2.45pm):

Player/Club/Province/Caps -

15 - Rob Kearney (UCD/Leinster) 82
14 - Keith Earls (Young Munster/Munster) 66
13 - Garry Ringrose (UCD/Leinster) 12
12 - Bundee Aki (Galwegians/Connacht) 6
11 - Jacob Stockdale (Ballynahinch/Ulster) 8
10 - Jonathan Sexton (St. Mary's College/Leinster) 72
9 - Conor Murray (Garryowen/Munster) 63
1 -  Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster) 77
2 - Rory Best (Banbridge/Ulster) (capt) 110
3 - Tadhg Furlong (Clontarf/Leinster) 22
4 - James Ryan (UCD/Leinster) 7
5 - Iain Henderson (Ballynahinch/Ulster) 37
6 - Peter O'Mahony (Cork Constitution/Munster) 46
7 - Dan Leavy (UCD/Leinster) 8
8 - CJ Stander (Shannon/Munster) 22

Replacements:

16 - Sean Cronin (St. Mary's College/Leinster) 60
17 - Jack McGrath (St. Mary's College/Leinster) 46
18 - Andrew Porter (UCD/Leinster) 6
19 - Devin Toner (Lansdowne/Leinster) 57
20 - Jordi Murphy (Lansdowne/Leinster) 19
21 - Kieran Marmion (Corinthians/Connacht) 20
22 - Joey Carbery (Clontarf/Leinster) 9
23 - Jordan Larmour (St. Mary's College/Leinster) 2

 

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