Barritt named in England side to face Ireland
- 1131
Barritt named in England side to face Ireland
Brad Barritt returns to the England starting line-up for Saturday’s warm-up Test against Ireland at Twickenham.
The Saracens centre, whose last Test was the victory over Australia in November 2014 before injury ruled him out of the Six Nations, is one of five changes to the starting line-up from Paris.
Barritt replaces Luther Burrell, Anthony Watson (Bath) returns to the wing in place of Jack Nowell while Geoff Parling (Exeter Chiefs), Tom Wood (Northampton Saints) and Ben Morgan (Gloucester) come in for Joe Launchbury, James Haskell and Billy Vunipola respectively.
England boss 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 World Cup.
“It’s great to see Brad back along with the guys that missed the Six Nations such as Ben Morgan, Joe Launchbury and Owen Farrell, who now have a Test match under their belts, and 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 Fiji in the opening game.”
The Saracens centre, whose last Test was the victory over Australia in November 2014 before injury ruled him out of the Six Nations, is one of five changes to the starting line-up from Paris.
Barritt replaces Luther Burrell, Anthony Watson (Bath) returns to the wing in place of Jack Nowell while Geoff Parling (Exeter Chiefs), Tom Wood (Northampton Saints) and Ben Morgan (Gloucester) come in for Joe Launchbury, James Haskell and Billy Vunipola respectively.
England boss 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 World Cup.
“It’s great to see Brad back along with the guys that missed the Six Nations such as Ben Morgan, Joe Launchbury and Owen Farrell, who now have a Test match under their belts, and 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 Fiji in the opening game.”
