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Eddie Jones names England side for Ireland visit

London - Owen Farrell and George Ford will start a Test match together for the first time in over a year when England play Ireland in a World Cup warm-up match at Twickenham on Saturday.

Farrell returns to the starting XV - he was a replacement in the 13-6 defeat by Wales last Saturday - partnering Manu Tuilagi in the centres with Ford retaining his place at flyhalf.

Ben Youngs comes in at scrumhalf - Willi Heinz having started against the Welsh in both Tests - with experienced prop Joe Marler getting his first start since coming out of international retirement. 

The last time Ford and Farrell started together was the second Test against South Africa in Bloemfontein last June, which England lost 23-12.

"This weekend we will be looking to gain more match fitness and test different sorts of game strategies," said Jones.

Jones, who has yet to feature his most contentious selection, uncapped wing Ruaridh McConnochie who was injured for both the Wales games, said the players had been in fine fettle during the week.

"The players have come back in a very good physical and mental state and we have had a good preparation this week," said Jones.

"We purposefully made the week short looking ahead to the World Cup where this might happen beyond our control.

"It is the third of four games for us and come 8 September, when we get on the plane, we want to be ready to go. This is another step forward for us."

England have one more warm-up match after the Ireland game in Newcastle against Italy on September 6 prior to departure for Japan.

Once there England will begin their World Cup campaign against Tonga in Sapporo (September 22) before playing the United States in Kobe (September 26), 2015 semi-finalists Argentina in Tokyo (October 5) and round off their pool matches against old foes France in Yokohama (October 12).

Teams:

England

15 Elliot Daly, 14 Joe Cokanasiga, 13 Manu Tuilagi, 12 Owen Farrell, 11 Jonny May, 10 George Ford, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Sam Underhill, 6 Tom Curry, 5 George Kruis, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Jamie George, 1 Joe Marler 

Substitutes: 16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Mako Vunipola, 18 Dan Cole, 19 Courtney Lawes, 20 Mark Wilson, 21 Willi Heinz, 22 Piers Francis, 23 Joe Marchant

Ireland

15 Rob Kearney, 14 Jordan Larmour, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Ross Byrne, 9 Conor Murray, 8 CJ Stander, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Peter O'Mahony, 5 Jean Kleyn, 4 Iain Henderson, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Rory Best (captain), 1 Cian Healy

Substitutes: 16 Sean Cronin, 17 Jack McGrath, 18 Andrew Porter, 19 Devin Toner, 20 Tadhg Beirne, 21 Luke McGrath, 22 Jack Carty, 23 Andrew Conway

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