Six Nations: Ireland make one change for Grand Slam decider with England

British and Irish Lions lock Iain Henderson comes back into the side with Devon Toner dropping to the bench

Ireland coach Joe Schmidt has kept things largely the same (Getty)

Ireland coach Joe Schmidt made one change for Saturday's Six Nations finale against England as they bid for just their third grand slam in over 100 years having already secured the championship.

Unbeaten Ireland last week clinched their third title in five years - all under Schmidt - and travel to Twickenham hoping to complete a clean sweep only previously achieved by the Karl Mullen-led side of 1948 and Brian O'Driscoll's 2009 team.

British and Irish Lions lock Iain Henderson comes back into the side with Devon Toner dropping to the bench in a switch Schmidt said was somewhat planned ahead of last week's 28-8 victory over Scotland.

Fullback Rob Kearney, the only survivor from the side that ended Ireland's 61-year wait for a second grand slam in 2009, was passed fit alongside flanker Peter O'Mahony after the pair sat out training on Wednesday.

"There's a sense of anticipation, there's a sense of nervousness. I think the magnitude of what it's going to take to get us over the line is very much uppermost in the thinking," Schmidt told a news conference.

While Ireland's replacements are also unchanged bar the Toner-Henderson switch, England took radical action following successive defeats and will attempt to break up Ireland's run with a new look halfback partnership and back row.

Schmidt said England coach Eddie Jones' selection "changes things a little bit" but noted that the Saracens combination of Richard Wigglesworth and Owen Farrell at nine and 10 will smooth Farrell's move to flyhalf from inside centre.

Ireland spoiled England's grand slam bid at the same stage last year, ending a disappointing championship with a 13-9 win that began a record Irish run of 11 consecutive victories.

Schmidt said his free-scoring side did not care how win number 12 is achieved on Saturday.

"We haven't talked about how we might feel afterwards or what it means, because you almost don't dare. You don't dare to dream about what it might mean," Schmidt said.

"I don't think any of the team would care if it was 3-0 because we know what's at stake and what's at stake is not just a fantastic opportunity to achieve a grand slam but to go a year unbeaten. We wouldn't have dreamed of that this time last year."

Ireland team:

15-Rob Kearney, 14-Keith Earls, 13-Garry Ringrose, 12-Bundee Aki, 11-Jacob Stockdale, 10-Johnny Sexton, 9-Conor Murray; 8-CJ Stander, 7-Dan Leavy, 6-Peter O'Mahony, 5-Iain Henderson, 4-James Ryan, 3-Tadhg Furlong, 2-Rory Best (captain), 1-Cian Healy.

Replacements: 16-Sean Cronin, 17-Jack McGrath, 18-Andrew Porter, 19-Devin Toner, 20-Jordi Murphy, 21-Kieran Marmion, 22-Joey Carbery, 23-Jordan Larmour. (Reporting by Padraic Halpin Editing by Toby Davis)