Alex Goode of Saracens to start.
England fullback Mike Brown has been ruled out of Sunday’s vital Six Nations clash, against Ireland, at the Aviva Stadium.
Brown, who suffered a shuddering, concussive blow to the head in England’s recent win over Italy, was undergoing graduated Return to Play protocols.
An English RFU statement reads, ‘The 29 year-old is currently unable to progress beyond stage three of the process after waking up with a mild headache this morning.
‘Therefore, he is unavailable for the clash between the only two teams with 100 per cent records in the 2015 Championship. Subject to remaining symptom free for 24 hours, he will repeat that stage.’
He was rested completely until last Thursday and, as reported by The Guardian, had a RTP set-back on Friday following post-concussion symptoms. He was stood down over the weekend and too up a fresh RTP procedure on Monday.
The Harlequins fullback, who was his country’s stand-out player in the 2014 Six Nations, will now hope to feature in the final two games of the tournament, against Scotland and France.
