England great Courtney Lawes has backed the selection of Henry Pollock in the XV to face Ireland, although he has seen some obvious improvements the back-row can make.<\/p>\n
Steve Borthwick has brought the British and Irish Lions tourist into the starting line-up following their abject 31-20 defeat to Scotland last weekend.<\/p>\n
Pollock<\/a> will line up at number eight in a loose trio which also features Tom Curry and Ben Earl as England<\/a> look to get their Six Nations<\/a> back on track.<\/p>\n Getting campaign back on track<\/p>\n They take on Ireland<\/a> at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham on Saturday, no doubt hoping to put in a much better display than they produced at Murrayfield.<\/p>\n Lawes believes that the young back-rower will add plenty in attack, but also hopes to see certain developments in his defensive game.<\/p>\n \u201cThe selections of Henry Pollock, Tom Curry and Ollie Lawrence point to an England team who will bring more punch in attack and more pace across the park to fix up the areas that went wrong against Scotland and deliver that immediate reaction,\u201d he wrote in his Times column.<\/p>\n \u201cHenry is the kind of player that England need, someone who will bring a lot of pace and abrasive ball-carrying. He is physical in attack and has immense speed down the wing.<\/p>\n \u201cHe can also make his mark in defence with his ability to turn the ball over. I\u2019d like to see him in the thick of it in defence a bit more. He prefers to look for the breakdown opportunities rather than be in amongst it in the tackle.<\/p>\n \u201cBut that\u2019s also part of his game. He\u2019s definitely improving. He\u2019s participating more as a forward and trying to get himself through those brick wall situations when he needs to. Henry has got a really good opportunity to go out there and impose himself on the game.<\/p>\n \u201cHe is playing alongside Ben Earl, who will get through a ton of work, and Curry, the most well-rounded back-row player in England, maybe in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n England v Ireland prediction: Steve Borthwick\u2019s side to \u2018get title hunt back on track\u2019 while \u2018questions grow louder\u2019 for Andy Farrell<\/a><\/p>\n Attacking talent<\/p>\n Despite his red card against Scotland, Borthwick has kept Henry Arundell in the XV and added even more attacking firepower in the form of Ollie Lawrence.<\/p>\n \u201cLawrence is fantastic in the centre. He is much quicker than you think and he has got really good hands. He is going to get you over the gainline, bend the defence and create some space outside him for Tommy Freeman and Henry Arundell,\u201d Lawes added.<\/p>\n \u201cEngland will target the Ireland scrum, which held up OK against France but turned ugly against Italy. That will be a massive factor for England in their bid to get back on to the horse.\u201d<\/p>\n Want more from Planet Rugby? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list<\/a> for world-class coverage you can trust.<\/p>\n