England Women v Ireland Women: Leanne Riley and Katy Daley-McLean start

Amber Reed remains at 12, with Zoe Harrison – who started at centre in the first round and fly-half in the second – on the bench for England’s first home game of the tournament.

Riley’s reinstatement to the matchday 23 means Claudia MacDonald is left out of the side altogether.

“Our strength-in-depth and competition for places has seen us make a few changes,” said head coach Simon Middleton.

“We’ve brought Katy [Daley-McLean] back in for this game as her ability to marshal the troops and manage the side around the field will be essential in such a high-pressure game.

“Leanne Riley returns as we rotated the squad from last week. Mo Hunt went well for us in Scotland as did Claudia MacDonald, who I thought had her best performance in an England shirt coming on as a finisher.

“We are lucky to have three such outstanding scrum-halves and it’s crucial we keep them all ticking over, hence the changes for this week.”

England are favourites to win the Grand Slam and face Ireland, the only other unbeaten side in the tournament so far, at a sold-out Castle Park.