Lucky 13 can take England to grand slam glory

The 6ft 7in Jerseyman starts at outside centre for only the second time in a Test match after England captain Mike Tindall damaged ankle ligaments in the 22-16 victory over Scotland.

Harlequins No 8 Nick Easter takes over as captain, as he did in the second half of the Calcutta Cup game, and Saracens wing David Strettle comes onto the bench.

England manager Martin Johnson has otherwise kept changes to a minimum and will have only used 17 starting players in the whole Six Nations championship.

Leicester flanker Tom Croft remains among the replacements, despite marking his comeback from a fractured shoulder with a try-scoring appearance off the bench against Scotland.

Banahan’s first five caps came on the wing before England and Bath earmarked a future for him in the centres. His only midfield start in a Test match thus far came against Samoa in November.

The 24-year-old is not fazed by the prospect of going head-to-head with Brian O’Driscoll, considered the greatest outside centre of modern times this weekend.

“This is a big game, it is something to look forward to and an opportunity to take with both hands,” said Banahan.

“I have done as much as I can to learn the position. These big games are where you find out about yourself, where you find out if you can cut it.

“Former New Zealand international Tana Umaga started his career on the wing and ended up playing 12. Now I prefer playing in the centres to the wing.

“O’Driscoll is a fantastic player, one of the world’s best centres. He is brilliant in attack, he’s brilliant in defence and he’s got great rugby knowledge.

“All I can do is my best, do my basics as well as I can and hopefully I can get one up on him. I weigh more than him for a start,” laughed the 17st former loose-forward, whose torso features a tattooed scene of a Lancaster bomber in action.

The No 13, lucky dice and four-leaf clover are on his right arm.

“What I have done off the bench in these Six Nations games I want to do from the start and set a platform for the team.”

Banahan made a forceful impact when he replaced Tindall against Scotland, sparking one attack with a powerful run that left Kelly Brown pole-axed.

But had things turned out differently, Banahan could have been playing for Ireland.

As a Channel Islander, he can represent any of the home nations and Ireland had been in touch shortly before he was selected by the England Sevens team in 2007.

“My Dad’s great-grandparents are from Cork and coming from Jersey I could have played for any home nation. It was only ever going to be Ireland or England,” said Banahan.

Banahan’s power out on the wing led to early comparisons with Jonah Lomu but it is not something he encourages.

“I don’t like branding myself like somebody else. Then you get caught up in being someone else. I want to make my own statement on the park and let me evolve into the player I want to be,” he said. “I don’t style myself on anybody.”

Easter has captained England twice against the Barbarians but only once in a Test, the same Samoa game in which Banahan started at outside centre.

“It’s a blow to have Mike out but I’m confident the guys can go and perform,” said Johnson. “We have some excellent captains. The good thing with (regular captain) Lewis (Moody) and Mike out is that people have stepped up around the whole team now with leadership roles.”

Tindall and Moody, who would have captained England had he not injured his knee, will be in Dublin. Tindall will then have a further specialist assessment on his left ankle next week.

Ireland lock Paul O’Connell believes England are carved in the image of Johnson.

Johnson was captain eight years ago when England completed their last Six Nations clean sweep with a 42-6 victory at Lansdowne Road.

O’Connell came on as a second-half substitute in one of only three duels with Johnson, the other two occurring on Heineken Cup duty for Munster against Leicester.

Comparisons were often drawn between the two early in O’Connell’s career, and the Munster forward is an admirer of his predecessor as Lions captain. “I have massive respect for England, for their coach and what he stands for in rugby,” he said. “When he was captain, what he stood for was all about physicality and never being intimidated.

“All the basics, such as set-piece excellence and mauling, were there when he was playing for England. They were his strengths and I see a lot of that in the England team now – all the ingredients that make a successful team.”

Ireland: K Earls (Munster); T Bowe (Ospreys), B O’Driscoll (Leinster, capt), G D’Arcy (Leinster), A Trimble (Ulster); J Sexton (Leinster), E Reddan (Leinster); C Healy (Leinster), R Best (Ulster), M Ross (Leinster), D O’Callaghan (Munster), P O’Connell (Munster), S O’Brien (Leinster), D Wallace (Munster), J Heaslip (Leinster).

Replacements: S Cronin (Connacht), T Court (Ulster), L Cullen (Leinster), D Leamy (Munster), P Stringer (Munster), R O’Gara (Munster), P Wallace (Ulster).

England: B Foden (Northampton); C Ashton (Northampton), M Banahan (Bath), S Hape (Bath), M Cueto (Sale); T Flood (Leicester), B Youngs (Leicester); A Corbisiero (London Irish), D Hartley (Northampton), D Cole (Leicester), L Deacon (Leicester), T Palmer (Stade Francais), T Wood (Northampton), J Haskell (Stade Francais), N Easter (Harlequins, capt).

Replacements: S Thompson (Leeds), P Doran-Jones (Gloucester), S Shaw (Wasps), T Croft (Leicester), D Care (Harlequins), J Wilkinson (Toulon), D Strettle (Saracens).