Introduced by Cliff Morgan

A new captain - Lancastrian Richard Greenwood - six new caps, and the thirty-first cap for Budge Rogers of Bedford (equalling Sir Wavell Wakefield's forty-one-year-old record) form the nucleus of England's XV for this their first fixture of the current season against an Irish side which must have serious hopes of the championship title after their decisive victory over France.
Ireland field an unchanged side except for the return of Mike Gibson, former national and British Lions fly-half, who is brought in at centre for this match, thus maintaining the successful half-back pairing of Roger Young and the new fly-half, twenty-year-old Barry McGann.
Commentator, Bill McLaren at Lansdowne Road, Dublin
Television presentation by the Irish Television Service