Lawes, Underhill, Curry v O'Mahony, VDF, Stander
England had plenty of heroes in their run to the World Cup final last autumn. The fearsome Maro Itoje in the second row, the electric wings of Jonny May and Anthony Watson, the monstrous Manu Tuilagi in the centre.
But most feted among all their stars were the young back-rowers Sam Underhill and Tom Curry, 23 and 21 years old respectively, who seemed to be in the shake-up for Man of the Match every week.
However, things are a bit less settled this spring. Billy Vunipola is out of action for this Six Nations campaign after breaking his arm in Saracens' Champions Cup victory over Racing 92.
Courtney Lawes, one of five locks selected in Eddie Jones' 23-man squad for the weekend, has been selected on the blindside, with Curry now forced to slide across into the number eight position.
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Curry has admitted he needed Vunipola's help in adjusting to "the nuances" of the position and his selection here has forced a change in England's style of play.
The Sale Sharks player is phenomenal at the breakdown and a highly mobile loose forward but he quite obviously lacks the power and ballast of the missing Vunipola.
In contrast to the England back row, the Ireland trio are recovering their form after an indifferent, at best, year in 2019.
It's the old hands who are delivering. Peter O'Mahony was dropped to the bench for the Scotland game but Caelan Doris' fourth-minute injury meant his stint on the sidelines was short and the Cork man has played so well in the interim he has retained his place.
The regularity with which CJ Stander is collecting Man of the Match awards in Lansdowne Road these days calls to mind the late Tony Keady's response when asked why he wasn't around to pick up his MOTM gong after the 1988 All-Ireland hurling final - "They should have given it to me at half-time when I was there!"
Tuilagi v Ireland duo
In the early minutes of last year's fateful encounter in the Aviva Stadium, Manu Tuilagi came steaming on to a long lineout, slammed into Josh Van der Flier, put England on the front foot and laid the platform for the opening try scored by Jonny May in the corner.
The retrospectives on 2019 have it that Ireland never really recovered from this moment.
Joe Schmidt later said Ireland were still "a bit broken" by the fallout from that England game, an assessment which seemed remarkable at the time, given that it was only Ireland's second defeat in 20 months.
Anxiety had set in and Ireland set off on a panicky quest to recover the form they'd shown on 2018 - before it was too late.
Tuilagi later did horrific damage to the Ireland midfield in the record victory in Twickenham in August, a result which sparked a wave of (ultimately justified) pessimism among fans.
Unlike 12 months ago, Robbie Henshaw will be in the front line of defending Tuilagi's rampages. In a rare show of experimental casualness from Schmidt, Henshaw was picked at full back for last year's fixture in the Aviva Stadium, a decision that everyone connected with the camp felt was best forgotten.
This time around, he'll be in the centre alongside his old Connacht mucca Bundee Aki. Garry Ringrose's injury was considered a blow to Ireland in the wake of the uninspiring win over Scotland but Henshaw's showing in 44 minutes against Wales was highly impressive.
On form, Ireland should be better equipped to handle Tuilagi than they proved in the two recent outings against England.
Lineout v Lineout
We toyed with going for Andy Farrell v his son but, no, let's keep it earnest. England aren't under-served in this area.
There's already Maro Itoje - who earned a ranking of '10' in those ultra-important player ratings following the famous win over New Zealand - and his Saracens teammate George Kruis selected in the second row.
They have another jumper at 6 with Courtney Lawes stationed there. On the replacements front, they have more lineout men with Charlie Ewels and Joe Launchbury ready to be sprung.
Ireland, meanwhile, have been forced into a late change with Iain Henderson ruling himself following the birth of his baby.
In replacing him, Ireland have gone with the wizened old head of Devin Toner (you can keep your four year plans).
Toner should give Ireland reasonable solidity and confidence in the lineout area though his controversial omission from the World Cup squad was decided on the basis that he didn't have the physicality or dynamism around the pitch compared to Kleyn and others.
Follow England v Ireland (kick-off 3pm) on Sunday via our live blog on RTE.ie/Sport and the News Now app or listen live on RTÉ 2fm. Live TV and Radio coverage of England Women v Ireland Women on RTÉ2 and RTÉ 2fm from 12.30pm, Sunday. Highlights on Against the Head, Monday at 8pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player.
