Brad Barritt to make England return against Ireland

Brad BarrittBrad Barritt will make his long-awaited return to the England starting XV to take in Ireland in Dublin on Saturday.
The Saracens centre's last Test came in a 26-17 victory over in November 2014 before injury ruled him out of the ensuing RBS 6 Nations.
He replaces Luther Burrell as Jonathan Joseph's midfield partner in one of five changes to Stuart Lancaster's run-on side from the 25-20 loss to France in two weeks ago.
Elsewhere, Anthony Watson () returns to the right wing in place of Jack Nowell while Geoff Parling (Exeter), Tom Wood () and Ben Morgan () come in for Joe Launchbury, and respectively.
Owen Farrell joins Sam Burgess and fellow Saracen Richard Wigglesworth as backline options on the replacements' bench, while Northampton-bound prop Kieran Brookes will also be looking to make an impact.
England head coach Stuart Lancaster said: “We are excited about this weekend and playing at home and it is another opportunity for these 23 players as we finalise our preparations for the Rugby .
“It's great to see Brad back along with the guys that missed the such as Ben Morgan, Joe Launchbury and Owen Farrell, who now have a Test match under their belts.
“It leaves us with lots of options both starting and from the bench.
“The players know that having made the 31 is not enough and we have seen in training how determined they are to be in that squad to play in the opening game of the tournament.”
England: Mike Brown; Anthony Watson, Jonathan Joseph, Brad Barritt, Jonny May; George Ford, Ben Youngs; Joe Marler, Tom Youngs, Dan Cole; Courtney Lawes, Geoff Parling; Tom Wood, Chris Robshaw (Capt.), Billy Vunipola.
Replacements: Jamie George, Mako Vunipola, Kieran Brookes, Joe Launchbury, Billy Vunipola, Richard Wigglesworth, Owen Farrell, Sam Burgess.

Leave a Comment