Mitchell starts for England as trio of Saints stars involved against Ireland

Mitchell picked up the problem in Saints' Investec Champions Cup clash with Munster on January 18 but has now recovered and will start at scrum-half at the Aviva Stadium.

Tommy Freeman is also in the starting 15 as he lines up on the wing, while Fin Smith is among the replacements.

But Curtis Langdon, Fraser Dingwall and Ollie Sleightholme, who has recently been recovering from a hamstring issue, will play no part against Ireland.

England boss Steve Borthwick opts for a six-two bench for his side’s first match of the tournament, with fly-half Smith primed to earn a seventh cap as he is named as backs cover.

“We’re looking forward to the challenge of facing the tournament favourites,” said head coach Borthwick.

“We know it’ll be a tough contest against a team that’s very familiar with each other. We’ll need to work tirelessly and maintain our discipline from the first whistle to the last.

“England versus Ireland in Dublin is a huge occasion, and we’ll be ready to face it head-on.”

England team to face Ireland: 15 Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers, 35 caps); 14 Tommy Freeman (Saints, 15 caps), 13 Ollie Lawrence (Bath Rugby, 31 caps), 12 Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs, 69 caps), 11 Cadan Murley (Harlequins, uncapped); 10 Marcus Smith (Harlequins, 39 caps), 9 Alex Mitchell (Saints, 18 caps); 1 Ellis Genge (Bristol Bears, 66 caps) – vice-captain, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie (Sale Sharks, 44 caps), 3 Will Stuart (Bath Rugby, 45 caps); 4 Maro Itoje (Saracens, 88 caps) – captain, 5 George Martin (Leicester Tigers, 19 caps); 6 Tom Curry (Sale Sharks, 56 caps), 7 Ben Curry (Sale Sharks, 6 caps), 8 Ben Earl (Saracens, 37 caps).

Replacements: 16 Theo Dan (Saracens, 16 caps), 17 Fin Baxter (Harlequins, 6 caps), 18 Joe Heyes (Leicester Tigers, 7 caps), 19 Ollie Chessum (Leicester Tigers, 23 caps), 20 Chandler Cunningham-South (Harlequins, 11 caps), 21 Tom Willis (Saracens, 1 cap), 22 Harry Randall (Bristol Bears, 11 caps), 23 Fin Smith (Saints, 6 caps).