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Saturday, 19 March 2011

Banahan Starts for England at Aviva

England's Matt Banahan

There are two changes in personnel in the Ireland back-line and also a positional switch. Keith Earls moves to full-back in place of Luke Fitzgerald.

Andrew Trimble comes into the team on the left wing for his first start in this year's Championship. Jonathan Sexton will start the game at out-half, with Ronan O'Gara moving to the replacements bench.

Eoin Reddan has been passed fit to start at scrum half, having recovered from the concussion he received in last Saturday's match against Wales.

The Ireland pack is unchanged for the fourth successive game, with lockPaul O'Connell set to win his 75th cap.

Commenting on the team selection, head coach Declan Kidney said: "If Luke has made any errors recently it's probably because he's tried too hard. He's probably been outstretching himself and his timing is just a small bit off.

"Andrew has been knocking on the door for quite some time, Keith has been going well and I just think it's a good combination for us to have this weekend.

"Andrew was showing great form up to the Six Nations, he was going really well for Ulster and then picked up an unfortunate bang. He's fought his way back through matches with Ulster and training with ourselves to justify his place.

"We've two good number 10s in Jonathan and Ronan. In the same way that I felt after the French match that it was right to give Ronan a go there, he got the next two...I just feel it's the right time to give Jonathan a start here."

Brian O'Driscoll, who will captain Ireland for the 75th time this weekend, added: "I'm really looking forward to Saturday. You always look forward to playing against the best sides and more often than not England are one of those.

"It's the first game for them at the Aviva Stadium. It's been a bit of a topsy turvy Six Nations for us, so hopefully we can finish off with a good performance and the result to match."

Meanwhile, Bath's Matt Banahan will start for England in their final game of the RBS 6 Nations Championship against Ireland.

Banahan takes over from the injured Mike Tindall and will win his 11th England cap at the Aviva Stadium.

His inclusion is the only change to the side that beat Scotland 22-16 last Sunday, with Saracens' David Strettle drafted onto the replacements bench.

Strettle made a try-scoring debut against Ireland at Croke Park in 2007 and is set to make his first appearance since facing New Zealand in Auckland in 2008.

Nick Easter from Harlequins, who took over the captaincy after Tindall suffered an ankle ligament injury against Scotland, leads the side again.

Mark Cueto will reach a personal milestone when he wins his 50th cap for England, six-and-a-half years after making his debut against Canada in 2004.

Meanwhile, Tindall will have further specialist assessment next week on the left ankle ligament injury that has ruled him out of Saturday's Grand Slam decider.

Along with the injured Lewis Moody, he will be with the squad in Dublin and the England medics will continue to liaise with their Gloucester counterparts on his treatment.

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