Maro Itoje set to make first England start against Ireland

The Saracens lock looks set to make his first England start after Joe Launchbury was ruled out.

Saracens lock Maro Itoje looks set to make his first England start after Joe Launchbury was ruled out of the RBS 6 Nations match against Ireland.

Launchbury had pulled up in training with a sore hamstring but England had expected the Wasps lock to make Ireland's visit to Twickenham Stadium on Saturday.

But the 24-year-old was ruled out on Wednesday evening with Northampton Saints lock Courtney Lawes called up to replace him.

Launchbury leads the England maul against Ireland last September.

The Rugby Football Union said in a statement: "It was anticipated that Launchbury would take part in England's third game of the tournament but after further consultation with team medical staff it has been decided he is unfit to play.

"The lock will now return back to his club (Wasps) for further treatment on a hamstring injury."

Given that Itoje was preferred to Lawes in Eddie Jones' initial 23-man squad, it now seems likely that the 21-year-old will partner Saracens team-mate George Kruis in the England boiler house against Ireland.

"I think it's a competitive position right now, and that's a good thing," assistant coach Steve Borthwick said of England's second-row area before Launchbury was forced to drop out of the squad.

"We've got a mixture of players there with different levels of experience.

"That's a really good thing for the squad to make that a competitive area.

"With that it spurs the intensity of training.

"Eddie will finalise the selections for the squad and team that we think can win the game this weekend."

Lawes has been handed a reprieve after starting the last game, the 40-9 victory over Italy at the Stadio Olimpico.

Launchbury started in England's opening Six Nations match, the 15-9 victory over Scotland at Murrayfield, but was on the bench in Rome 10 days ago.

However, it was Lawes who made way for Itoje when Jones named his squad for the Ireland game.

Itoje has forced his way in through a string of excellent performances for Saracens in the Aviva Premiership and made his Test debut off the bench against Italy.

Wasps centre Elliot Daly could make his long-awaited debut against Ireland, with the 23-year-old poised to offer cover from the replacements' bench.

Borthwick worked under Jones with Japan during the autumn's World Cup, and believes England's new boss has adopted the right strategy by holding Daly back so far during this Six Nations tournament.

"I think Eddie, with more than 20 years' coaching experience at the top level, he'll have seen young players come through and he's a fantastic judge of when is the right time to start introducing them," said Borthwick.

"We want our young players to come in, perform and have long, successful careers with England."

Daly's pedigree has seen him glide through England's age-group ranks before impressing consistently with Wasps in the last few seasons.

The goal-kicking flyer can operate at centre, wing or full-back, and should offer England a host of options off the bench on Saturday.

"Firstly Elliot's been playing well, I think he's come into this environment, and the times he's been in he's incredibly competitive," said Borthwick.

"He wants to win, wants to do exceptionally well and he trains really hard.

"His versatility in terms of positions helps, his left foot helps, a left-foot kicker is always a bonus.

"He's a guy who is young, got a lot to work on but has come in with a fantastic attitude to try to improve.

"Well I think that for all those players it's an ongoing assessment and an ongoing development process."