Murley to make England debut, Curry brothers to start against Ireland

LONDON :England will give Harlequins winger Cadan Murley his debut against Ireland on Saturday after Steve Borthwick named his team on Tuesday for the Six Nations opener, with twins Ben and Tom Curry to start in the back row together for the first time.

Alex Mitchell has recovered from injury to start at scrumhalf, with Marcus Smith at 10 and Fin Smith on the bench.

Maro Itoje will captain the side for the first time, having taken over from Jamie George, who is absent from the Dublin clash through injury. Luke Cowan-Dickie will start at hooker, with Theo Dan on the bench.

Despite England's struggles in attack in their November internationals, coach Borthwick has kept faith with his regular centre pairing of Ollie Lawrence and Henry Slade, while Freddie Steward is at fullback.

Saracens number eight Tom Willis is set to win his second cap off the bench, while Harry Randall provides scrumhalf cover with Smith the only other back in a 6-2 forwards split.

Murley has been a regular in wider England squads in recent years without ever making a matchday 23, but gets his opportunity on the left wing, with Tommy Freeman on the right, in the absence of injured Immanuel Feyi-Waboso.

Tom Curry is at six with his Sale colleague and brother Ben winning a seventh cap at openside. The 26-year-olds have never played together for England, though got close last year when Ben replaced Tom after an hour against New Zealand. They were first selected in a squad together as teenagers in 2017.

Ben Earl retains his Number Eight slot to complete an athletic and dynamic back row ready to take on Ireland at the breakdown, where they excel.

England beat Ireland at Twickenham last season, ending a run of four straight defeats by them, in their best result of