Andy Farrell to hand Jack Crowley Ireland No 10 jersey for England test 

Ireland will travel to London later in the day, having rebounded from their 36-14 beating by France in Paris on the opening night, overcoming a strong Italian side 20-13 thanks to a strong input from their replacements and Farrell could reward that bench effort this weekend.

Fly-half Crowley was the catalyst for the late surge to victory, having replaced starting 10 Sam Prendergast on 55 minutes with the contest level at 10-10.

In tandem with scrum-half Jamison Gibson-Park, the fresh half-backs raised the tempo and attacking flow, orchestrating the go-ahead try scored by wing Rob Baloucoune before Crowley slotted both the conversion and a penalty soon after to secure the win.

Both Gibson-Park, who had replaced starting nine Craig Casey on 51 minutes, and Crowley could start at Twickenham with Prendergast possibly missing out completely if Farrell sticks with a six-two split between forwards and backs on the Ireland bench.

That could open the door for the more versatile Ciaran Frawley to be handed the number 23 jersey, which Crowley wore last weekend in Dublin.

Assistant coach Johnny Sexton, the former captain and number 10, insisted earlier this week that both Frawley and fellow fly-half Harry Byrne also needed game time at fly-half ahead of the 2027 World Cup in 18 months if Ireland were to avoid the over-reliance on one man in the position that had been the case during his ownership of the number 10 jersey.

Outside the half-backs, Ireland’s backline could stay unchanged with outside centre Garry Ringrose having shaken off the knee issue he sustained in the second half of the Italy win.

With the championship switching to a more condensed schedule in 2026 with the removal of one of the two fallow weeks that had previously allowed more rest, playing a third game in successive weeks this Saturday will also have been a consideration in the selection process and having dropped to the bench against Italy, Tadhg Beirne could be set for a return to the back row at blindside flanker, while Josh van der Flier may be in line for a recall on the openside having been left out of the 23 last weekend.

That would see captain Caelan Doris revert to No 8 and Jack Conan move back to the replacements.

The third Lions Test starter set for promotion from bench duty at Twickenham could be first-choice tighthead prop Tadhg Furlong, who replaced Tom Clarkson at half-time against the Italians to make his comeback from a calf injury.

Like Prendergast, Clarkson could miss out completely if Finlay Bealham gets the nod to back up Furlong at tighthead, while Beirne’s inclusion would come at the expense of Cormac Izuchukwu, who, after an impressive Six Nations debut, could drop to the bench, though he may be in direct competition with last Saturday’s Ireland debutant Edwin Edogbo.

Ireland (possible v England): J Osborne (Leinster); R Baloucoune (Ulster), G Ringrose (Leinster), S McCloskey (Ulster), J Lowe (Leinster); J Crowley (Munster), J Gibson-Park (Leinster); J Loughman (Munster), D Sheehan (Leinster), T Furlong (Leinster); J McCarthy (Leinster), J Ryan (Leinster); T Beirne (Munster), J van der Flier (Leinster), C Doris (Leinster) – captain.