Two England changes for Irish Six Nations

Mar 16, 2017 - 10:35 AM Winger Anthony Watson and No.8 Billy Vunipola will start for England in Saturday's Six Nations rugby showdown with Ireland in Dublin.

They were selected on Thursday by coach Eddie Jones for their first starts of the championship.

Vunipola, coming off the bench in the past two games after recovering from a knee injury, starts in place of Nathan Hughes, while Watson, having entered the fray early against Scotland last week for the injured Elliot Daly, comes in on the right wing for Jack Nowell.

Daly has passed his concussion protocols and is fit to start on the left wing, while Hughes and Nowell join an otherwise unchanged bench.

Victory will secure back-to-back grand slams for England and take their winning run to a tier-one world record of 19, overhauling New Zealand's run of 18 from 2015-16.

ENGLAND (15-1):

Mike Brown, Anthony Watson, Jonathan Joseph, Owen Farrell, Elliot Daly, George Ford, Ben Youngs; Billy Vunipola, James Haskell, Maro Itoje, Courtney Lawes, Joe Launchbury, Dan Cole, Dylan Hartley (capt), Joe Marler.

Res: Jamie George, Mako Vunipola, Kyle Sinckler, Tom Wood, Nathan Hughes, Danny Care, Ben Te'o, Jack Nowell.

Source: AAP