O’mahony Irish return but sweat on for Stockdale

ANDY Farrell is expected to bring Peter O’mahony back into the Ireland team to face England on Saturday. The Munster captain is available again after serving a three-match ban for his red card against Wales.

His return at blindside would see Tadhg Beirne switch to second-row to replace James Ryan, who misses out with a head injury, as Ryan Baird remains on the bench.

The coach has big calls behind the scrum as he prepares to name his team after today’s training session.

With Garry Ringrose out with an ankle injury, Chris Farrell and Bundee Aki are vying for a spot in the centre. While Aki is the more established operator, his inclusion would necessitate a positional switch for the in-form Leinsterman and that may hand Munster’s Farrell the edge.

Otherwise, the coach is expected to stick closely to the side that beat Scotland last weekend, which could mean James Lowe is retained in the back-three despite his poor performance at Murrayfield.

Jacob Stockdale and Jordan Larmour are pushing for inclusion on the wing, but Farrell may keep faith with the Kiwi No.11 and hope for a big response against England.

Given the six-day turnaround, he could look at freshening up his front-row by bringing in Dave Kilcoyne or Ronan Kelleher, but the importance of the set-piece means he’s likely to stick with Cian Healy, Rob Herring and Tadhg Furlong.

Iain Henderson will partner Beirne, with O’mahony joining Will Connors and CJ Stander in the back-row.