Six Nations - Ireland v England: All you need to know

Ireland start the defence of their Guinness Six Nations championship against England on Saturday afternoon at Aviva Stadium.

No team has ever won the tournament, in any format, three times in a row outright so Simon Easterby's men are out to make history.

It won't be easy, however, and England were the one side that got the better of Ireland in last season's championship.

Find out all you need to know about the match here.

ONLINE

Follow a live blog on RTE.ie/sport and the RTÉ News App followed by report, reaction and player ratings.

RADIO

Listen to live commentary on RTÉ Radio 1's Saturday Sport.

TV

The game will be live on Virgin Media.

Scotland v Italy (Saturday from 1.30pm) is live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player with highlights of all of the weekend's games on Against the Head, Monday, 8pm.

WEATHER

The game is set to kick off under thick cloud with a moderate breeze from the south east. Temperature is forecast to be around 9C with just over 20% chance of rain during the match.

Listen to the RTÉ Rugby podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

Ireland have lost just two of their last 29 home games in the Six Nations and have beaten England in their last three games in Dublin, including a World Cup warm-up in 2023.

However, England denied heavy favourites Ireland a Grand Slam shot last season when they edged out Andy Farrell's men 23-22 with a late dropgoal in their round-four meeting

It’s the 143rd meeting of the teams with England winning 81, Ireland 53 and they have drawn eight times.

Interim head coach Simon Easterby is in charge as Farrell looks after the Lions until after summer.

Ireland, ranked second in the world, fell to a dispiriting 32-20 defeat when the sides last met in Dublin on the opening