Ireland unchanged for England clash

Declan Kidney says his players 'recovered pretty well from the Wales game'
9 February 2013

Ireland have named an unchanged starting XV for Sunday's RBS 6 Nations clash with England at the Aviva Stadium after centre Gordon D'Arcy and flanker Peter O'Mahony were passed fit.

D'Arcy has recovered from the dead leg he sustained in last weekend's 30-22 victory over Wales, while O'Mahony has been given the all-clear after suffering a concussion in the same match.

An attritional championship opener at the Millennium Stadium also saw centre Brian O'Driscoll, flanker Sean O'Brien, full-back Rob Kearney and prop Mike Ross suffer knocks that have cleared up during the week.

Substitute centre Keith Earls takes his place on an unchanged bench after damaging his shoulder against Wales.

"The players have recovered pretty well from the Wales game. We took 48 hours off after the match and have toned down training since," said head coach Declan Kidney.

"Gordon, Peter and Sean all trained fully this morning so we don't envisage there being any changes."

Sunday's showdown at Lansdowne Road has been billed as an early title decider after France slumped to a shock defeat by Italy last weekend.

England's last Six Nations victory in Dublin was in 2003 when they won the Grand Slam, an achievement they only failed to repeat in 2011 when they were beaten 24-8 in the Irish capital. The tables were turned 12 months ago when Ireland were crushed 30-9 at Twickenham.

Ireland team: R Kearney (Leinster); C Gilroy (Ulster), B O'Driscoll (Leinster), G D'Arcy (Leinster), S Zebo (Munster); J Sexton (Leinster), C Murray (Munster); C Healy (Leinster), R Best (Ulster), M Ross (Leinster), M McCarthy (Connacht), D Ryan (Munster), P O'Mahony (Munster), S O'Brien (Leinster), J Heaslip (Leinster, capt).

Replacements: S Cronin (Leinster), D Kilcoyne (Munster), D Fitzpatrick (Ulster), D O'Callaghan (Munster), C Henry (Ulster), E Reddan (Leinster), R O'Gara (Munster), K Earls (Munster).

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