Saints star Lawes to skipper England against Ireland

The 34-year-old will earn his 99th England cap at the Aviva Stadium as he starts at six, but Lewis Ludlam and recent call-up Alex Mitchell won't be involved this weekend.

Following their narrow 19-17 victory over Wales last Saturday, the Red Rose will be looking for their third win of the summer.

And England head coach Steve Borthwick said: “It is a great challenge against the number one ranked team in the world and we are all excited for this fixture.

"The game will be excellent preparation for us ahead of the Rugby World Cup.”

Saturday’s Summer Nations Series clash against Ireland will be shown live and exclusively on Amazon Prime Video.

England team: 15. Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers, 24 caps); 14. Anthony Watson (unattached, 55 caps), 13. Joe Marchant (Stade Francais, 17 caps), 12. Manu Tuilagi (Sale Sharks, 51 caps), 11. Elliot Daly (Saracens, 58 caps); 10. George Ford – vice-captain (Sale Sharks, 83 caps), 9. Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers, 123 caps); 1. Ellis Genge – vice-captain (Bristol Bears, 50 caps), 2. Jamie George (Saracens, 78 caps), 3. Will Stuart (Bath Rugby, 27 caps); 4. Maro Itoje (Saracens, 68 caps), 5. David Ribbans (Toulon, 6 caps); 6. Courtney Lawes (c) (Saints, 98 caps), 7. Ben Earl (Saracens, 16 caps), 8. Billy Vunipola (Saracens, 69 caps).

Replacements: 16. Theo Dan (Saracens, 1 cap), 17. Joe Marler (Harlequins, 80 caps), 18. Kyle Sinckler (Bristol Bears, 62 caps), 19. Ollie Chessum (Leicester Tigers, 9 caps), 20. Jack Willis (Toulouse, 11 caps), 21. Danny Care (Harlequins, 88 caps), 22. Marcus Smith (Harlequins, 22 caps), 23. Ollie Lawrence (Bath Rugby, 12 caps).