The Bath Rugby centre takes over from the injured Mike Tindall (Gloucester Rugby) against Ireland and will win his 11th cap at the Aviva Stadium.

His inclusion is the only change to the side that beat Scotland 22-16 last Saturday with David Strettle (Saracens) drafted onto the bench.

Strettle, 27, made a try-scoring debut against Ireland at Croke Park in 2007 and will make his first appearance since facing New Zealand in Auckland in 2008 if he comes off the bench.

Nick Easter (Harlequins), who took over the captaincy after Tindall suffered an ankle ligament injury against Scotland, leads the side again.

Mark Cueto will reach a personal milestone when he wins his 50th cap for England, six and a half years after making his debut against Canada in 2004.

England team
15 Ben Foden (Northampton Saints)
14 Chris Ashton (Northampton Saints)
13 Matt Banahan (Bath Rugby)
12 Shontayne Hape (Bath Rugby)
11 Mark Cueto (Sale Sharks)
10 Toby Flood (Leicester Tigers)
9 Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers)
1 Alex Corbisiero (London Irish)
2 Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints)
3 Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers)
4 Louis Deacon (Leicester Tigers)
5 Tom Palmer (Stade Francais)
6 Tom Wood (Northampton Saints)
7 James Haskell (Stade Francais)
8 Nick Easter (Harlequins, captain)

Replacements
16 Steve Thompson (Leeds Carnegie)
17 Paul Doran-Jones (Gloucester Rugby)
18 Simon Shaw (London Wasps)
19 Tom Croft (Leicester Tigers)
20 Danny Care (Harlequins)
21 Jonny Wilkinson (Toulon)
22 David Strettle (Saracens)