England v Ireland LIVE: Six Nations rugby build-up and updates from Twickenham

Round two of the Six Nations featured a historic moment as Scotland hooker George Turner became the first player in the championship’s history to be removed after his smart mouthguard detected a collision which could have caused a concussion.

Turner was removed from the pitch during the first half of Scotland’s defeat to France for a head injury assessment after his mouthguard alerted medical staff of a significant head acceleration event after a tackle made on Charles Ollivon. The front rower passed his assessment and returned to the field.

Wales will host England on the final weekend of the 2025 Six Nations with the fixtures for next year’s championship confirmed.

The two rivals will meet at the Principality Stadium in the middle fixture of “Super Saturday”, with Italy hosting Ireland and France taking on Scotland on the potential deciding day of the tournament.

France will kick off the championship against Wales on Friday 31 January in Paris, with England facing a daunting trip to Dublin and Scotland hosting Italy.

Rory Best and Jamie George hit it off on the 2017 British and Irish Lions tour, with the two hookers escaping the trip to New Zealand as friends – something that the former Ireland captain says is mightily rare.

“It’s quite unusual for hookers to come away from a tour still friendly!” Best told The Independent. “There’s always something, because it is such a combative position. But I took a lot from him on that tour in how to lead people off the pitch.

“He’s a cracking guy and I think he is going to be so important for England for the next few years. They have a lot of good young players but you need this core of people who have been there and done it and are still playing at the top level. Like Maro Itoje, like Jamie, like George Ford, even Dan Cole and Joe Marler – you need that core of players to buy into what Steve is about and Jamie is going to pivotal to that.”

Steve Borthwick has urged Immanuel Feyi-Waboso to take inspiration from Irish counterpart James Lowe and get his hands on the ball to make a success of his first England start at Twickenham on Saturday.

Young wing Feyi-Waboso has been promoted to the starting side after a try-scoring cameo off the bench against Scotland in round three.

The 21-year-old has been a breakthrough star of the Premiership season, impressing for Exeter both with his ability to slip through contact and lead the hard outside blitz England are now favouring defensively.

His score at Murrayfield came roaming off his right wing, arriving at the line on the scrum half’s shoulder as he searched for work to create a try-scoring chance.

Borthwick would like to see more of that from Feyi-Waboso on his first start for his country, citing Ireland’s Lowe — one of the world’s best wings — as an example to follow.

Danny Care was presented with his national academy report in anticipation of his 100th cap and the England scrum half jokes that the assessment made two decades ago is still accurate now.

Care will become the sixth England men’s Test centurion if he steps off the bench this afternoon with his family, including his wife Jodie and three children, all present at Twickenham.

When the squad gathered on Thursday to celebrate the occasion, they were read out the 37-year-old’s hand-written under-18 report that had been obtained by attack coach Richard Wigglesworth.

“Wiggy got handed it at our training camp in York last week and was asked to give it to me. He said ‘there’s no way I’m giving it to him yet. I’m going to have some fun first’,” Care said.

“He did a little bit of a montage of good and bad bits from my career. The report said ‘he lacks a bit of physicality, box-kicking is slightly inconsistent’. I’d say 18 years later it’s still the same!

“The cool line at the end of it was ‘future England player’. There was also ‘he tries a bit too much and makes a few mistakes, but he’ll have a crack’. Wigglesworth had a bit of fun with that and it’s come a full circle. I’m still quite similar, I’d say.”

If and when Danny Care steps off the bench at Twickenham, he will become the sixth England men’s player to reach the 100 cap milestone. The enduringly brilliant Harlequins scrum-half made his professional debut in 2003 and even at 37-years-old he is still playing the electrifying rugby that thrills audiences.

One of the game’s most popular characters has done it the hard way too, long playing second fiddle to Ben Youngs and then having to resurrect his career, having been cast into Test exile after the 2018 ‘Black Hole Game’ against Japan.

Not bad for a self-confessed nutritionist’s nightmare who credits a regimen of cookies and saunas for his longevity.

It will be a duel to savour when young second row enforcers George Martin and Joe McCarthy go toe to toe. There is a thuggish-ness to both forwards as they look to inflict maximum damage on each side of the ball.

And as they share similar stats across the board – both are 22-years-old, same height, comparable weights and experience – there is a real sense that this could be the first of many battles between the type of menacing tight five forward every team needs.

Martin’s coming of age performance came against South Africa in the World Cup semi-finals, McCarthy’s against France in round one of this Six Nations. Neither will want to give an inch, the type of menacing tight five forward every team needs.

Immanuel Feyi-Waboso’s inclusion on the right wing at the expense of Elliot Daly should thrill England fans even if the 21-year-old Exeter finisher has played only a handful of professional matches.

Injecting genuine X-factor into the team, Feyi-Waboso has been told to go hunting for the ball in the hope his pace, strength and running lines can make a difference against the champions.

But a cautionary tale can be seen in the similar trajectory of Henry Arundell, who exploded on to the scene amid a flurry of stunning tries but now plays in France and is unavailable as a result. It is a failure of England’s that they were unable to find him an ingoing role and they must ensure Feyi-Waboso’s vast talent is fully realised.

The odds are startling – England are rated 4-1 to win with Ireland 1/5 to continue their grand slam march. It is hard to recall a more lopsided evaluation for a match at Twickenham and Borthwick’s men undoubtedly face a gargantuan task to rebound from their 30-21 mauling by Scotland, a game in which they made 25 handling errors and gifted 22 turnovers, and deny Ireland a fifth successive victory in the fixture.

Murrayfield was the pivotal encounter for England, who must now topple the favourites or France in Lyon to avoid finishing the Six Nations with just two wins for a fourth successive year, a run that would evoke memories of the dark days of the early 1970s and mid 1980s.

“Let’s be clear on Ireland – right now we can all agree they are the best team in the world,” were the words Steve Borthwick used when assessing England’s round four opponents, adding his voice to a theme that has developed throughout the tournament.

Former Wales captain Sam Warburton holds a similar view that has been greeted with indignation in South Africa given the Springboks retained the World Cup last autumn.

It will take the rivals’ two-Test series in July to settle the debate, but for now Andy Farrell’s green machine appear invulnerable as they aim to become the first side to win back-to-back Grand Slams in the Six Nations era.