THE England Under-21 side remains unchanged for Friday night's clash against Ireland at Worcester, meaning Sale's Ben Foden and Michael Hills will again take their place in the starting line-up.

England are one win away from achieving a Six Nations Grand Slam, with coaches Jim Mallinder and Dorian West predictably retaining the side that accounted for France in Perigueux last time out.

An England victory would give them a second Grand Slam in three years, but if they come unstuck, then Wales or France - who meet in Newport on Friday night - could overtake them.

'We have decided to stick with the same squad that did so well against France,' said Mallinder.

'Ireland like to play a lot of rugby. They have a big pack and some talented backs who will expose our defence if we let them, but we won't be changing our emphasis.

'We have been working on the same things over the last four games, and we are trying to make sure that we focus on getting the basics right and doing the simple things well.'

Second row Sean Cox and hooker Neil Briggs are on the bench.

Team: M Brown (Harlequins); T Evans (Wasps), M Cornwell (Leicester, capt), A Allen (Gloucester), N Abendanon (Bath); T Flood (Newcastle), B Foden (Sale Sharks); A Rogers (Harlequins), D Hartley (Northampton), D Wilson (Newcastle), R Blaze (Worcester), T Croft (Leicester), J Haskell (Wasps), M Hills (Sale Sharks), J Crane (Leeds).
Replacements: N Briggs (Sale Sharks), M Lambert (Harlequins), S Cox (Sale Sharks), A Rae (Northampton), N Runciman (Worcester), R Lamb (Gloucester), T Ojo (London Irish).

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