Rugby-Feyi-Waboso gets first England start against Ireland

The Cardiff-born Feyi-Waboso, 21, scored a try as a replacement in the 30-21 defeat at Murrayfield two weeks ago and wins his third cap on the right wing, with Tommy Freeman switching to the left and Elliot Daly dropping to the bench. It appears a bold call for the usually cautious Borthwick, who generally seems to pick his wingers for their ability to "defend the corners" rather than score tries.

Winger Immanuel Feyi-Waboso will make his first start for England against Ireland on Saturday, with Alex Mitchell and George Martin also returning as coach Steve Borthwick made three changes on Thursday from the team beaten by Scotland. The Cardiff-born Feyi-Waboso, 21, scored a try as a replacement in the 30-21 defeat at Murrayfield two weeks ago and wins his third cap on the right wing, with Tommy Freeman switching to the left and Elliot Daly dropping to the bench.

It appears a bold call for the usually cautious Borthwick, who generally seems to pick his wingers for their ability to "defend the corners" rather than score tries. Feyi-Waboso certainly brings a high-speed threat, however, and is just the sort of player to get the Twickenham fans on their feet, something 4-1 outsiders England will need desperately against the title-chasing visitors.

He has played only 18 games for Exeter after joining them when he switched his medical studies to the city's university after former club Wasps went into administration. Last week he had to miss England's training camp to sit an exam. Martin comes in to add his power at lock, with Ollie Chessum shifting to blindside flanker. Mitchell returns after injury at scrumhalf, with Danny Care set to win his 100th cap off the bench. "I'd like to pay special tribute to Danny Care," Borthwick said. "Danny has been a tremendous servant to English rugby and reaching this milestone is an incredible achievement. He's a wonderful player and someone who always puts the team first.

"I'm sure Saturday will be an emotional and memorable day for Danny and his family, and the team couldn't be prouder of his accomplishment." George Furbank retains his fullback position ahead of Freddie Steward while Harlequins duo Marcus Smith and Alex Dombrandt are among the replacements as they seek their first action of the championship.

Ireland can secure the title with a game to spare if they claim a fourth-successive bonus-point win. That would also give them a Six Nations record 12th successive victory, a fourth in a row in the championship against England and send them into their final game at home to Scotland next week seeking the first back-to-back grand slams of the Six Nations era. Stopping them looks a huge challenge for an England team who managed narrow wins over Italy and Wales and delivered an abject performance in defeat by Scotland.

Another defeat would leave the World Cup semi-finalists heading to France next week in real danger of finishing with two wins out of five for the fourth season in a row. They are likely to remain relatively conservative against an Ireland team who are not only brilliantly drilled in their own attacking patterns but who have developed an All-Blackesque ability to punish turnovers with tries.

Certainly if they play anything like they did at Murrayfield, where there were 25 handling errors and 22 turnovers, they will be blown away, but assistant coach Kevin Sinfield this week said that match was an anomaly. "When you're trying to understand why someone's dropped a ball, or someone's thrown a pass without looking, there's a bit more to it than the numbers," he said. "We're trying to understand the people, what they are feeling and what they are seeing at that moment.

"So, we've delved pretty deep into that. We put some balls down in the Scotland game, why that is we'll never know for sure. But what we have to try to make sure is that it doesn't happen again."

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