National Academy coaches Jim Mallinder and Dorian West have today named an unchanged squad for England’s final Six Nations clash against Ireland at Worcester this Friday, March 17.

Having won all four of their matches to date, Mallinder and his team know that a victory against the Irish will secure them the Six Nations and Grand Slam titles, their second in three years. A loss however would open the tournament up second or third placed teams France and Wales who face each other in this final round.

Mallinder said: “We’ve decided to stick with the same squad that did so well against France.  Ireland like to play a lot of rugby, they have a big pack and some talented backs who will expose our defence if we let them.

“But we won’t be changing our emphasis.  We’ve been working on the same things over the last four games and we’re trying to make sure that we focus on getting the basics right and doing the simple things well.”

England U21s

15  Mike Brown – NEC Harlequins
14 Thom Evans – London Wasps
13 Matt Cornwell – Leicester Tigers (captain)
12 Anthony Allen – Gloucester
11 Nick Abendanon – Bath Rugby
10 Toby Flood – Newcastle Falcons
9 Ben Foden – Sale Sharks
1 Alex Rogers – NEC Harlequins
2 Dylan Hartley – Northampton Saints
3 David Wilson – Newcastle Falcons
4 Richard Blaze – Worcester Warriors
5 Tom Croft – Leicester Tigers
6 James Haskell – London Wasps
7 Michael Hills – Sale Sharks
8 Jordan Crane – Leeds Tykes

Replacements
16 Neil Briggs – Sale Sharks
17 Mark Lambert – NEC Harlequins
18 Sean Cox – Sale Sharks
19 Alex Rae – Northampton Saints
20 Nick Runciman – Worcester Warriors
21 Ryan Lamb – Gloucester
22 Topsy Ojo – London Irish

Bristol rugby's scrum-half Shaun Perry will captain England A against Ireland A.Perry has been rewarded for an outstanding season at the Memorial Stadium which has seen him play for England A in the 57-13 win over Italy A last month and become part of the senior England training squad.
 
England A head coach John Wells said: "Shaun has come out of the blue into the international reckoning but his form for Bristol this season has been outstanding and he’s been justly rewarded. His enthusiasm and banter have helped pull this team together and he fully deserves to be appointed captain.
 
"A team fixtures against Ireland are among the toughest you can get. It will be a very hard game but one we are looking forward to. Playing in front of the Gloucester crowd will help motivate the players, who are all eager to put in a good performance for the supporters, the country and themselves ahead of the Churchill Cup."
 
England A

15   Mark Van Gisbergen  (London Wasps)
14   Paul Sackey (London Wasps)
13   Jon Clarke (Northampton Saints)
12   Ollie Smith (Leicester Tigers)
11   Chris Bell (Leeds Tykes)
10  Shane Drahm (Worcester Warriors)
9    Shaun Perry  (Bristol Rugby, capt)
1   Tim Payne  (London Wasps)
2   Andy Titterrell  (Sale Sharks)
3   Stuart Turner  (Sale Sharks)
4   Tom Palmer  (Leeds Tykes)
5   Louis Deacon  (Leicester Tigers)
6   Andy Beattie  (Bath Rugby)
7   Michael Lipman (Bath Rugby)
8   Chris Jones  (Sale Sharks)
 
Replacements
16  Matt Cairns  (Saracens) 
17  Nick Wood  (Gloucester) 
18  Dan Ward-Smith (Bristol Rugby)
19  Tom Rees  (London Wasps)
20  Nick Walshe  (Bath Rugby)
21  Sam Vesty  (Leicester Tigers)
22  Delon Armitage (London Irish)

National Academy coaches Nigel Redman and Damian McGrath also today announced the starting line up for their final match of their Six Nations campaign, against Ireland U19s, at the Twickenham Stoop this Friday kicking off at 7.45pm.

The squad has just finished a morning’s training with the senior England team playing in the RBS 6 Nations at Twickenham stadium on Saturday.

England U19s

15 Chris Pennell (Worcester Warriors)
14 Oliver Dodge (Leicester Tigers)
13 Tom Youngs (Leicester Tigers)
12 Adam Powell (Saracens)
11 Jordan Turner-Hall (Harlequins)
10 Danny Cipriani  London Wasps & Whitgift School (captain)
9 Richard Bolt (South West Rugby Academy & Exeter Chiefs)
1 Daniel Cole (Leicester Tigers)
2 Ross McMillan (Nottingham)
3 Jack Forster (Gloucester & Hartpury College)
4 David Attwood (Bristol & Bristol University)
5 Ben Thomas (Saracens & Haileybury College)
6 Alex  Shaw (Leicester Tigers)
7 Andy Saull (Saracens & Bancroft’s School)
8 David Tait (Sale Sharks)

Replacements

16 Jordan Page (Leeds Tykes)
17 Charlie Beech (Northampton Saints)
18 Tom  Mercey (Saracens)
19 Sam McDonal (Worcester Warriors)
20 Iain Grieve (Bristol)
21 Rob Springall (Leicester Tigers)
22 George Hughes (Bath)
23 Selorm Kuadey (Sale Sharks)