Devin Toner

Toner dropped for Grand Slam showdown

Devin Toner has been relegated to the bench for Saturday's crunch Six Nations Grand Slam showdown against England. 

The Moynalvey man has been one of Joe Schmidt's regulars since the New Zealander took over as Ireland coach but was dropped for the Ireland v England Six Nations game last year and now has suffered a similar fate. 

Toner has been replaced on the team by Iain Henderson who will partner James Ryan in the second row. 

Ireland go into the game on the back of an excellent performance against Scotland last week with Jacob Stockdale powering over for two tries in the 28-8 win. 

Toner will very disappointed to miss out on a starting place for one of Ireland's biggest games in recent times but he, no doubt, will feature at some stage. 

The Ireland team to start against England is: Rob Kearney, Keith Earls, Garry Ringrose, Bundee Aki, Jacob Stockdale, Jonathan Sexton, Conor Murray; Cian Healy, Rory Best, Tadhg Furlong, James Ryan, Iain Henderson, Peter O'Mahony, Dan Leavy, C J Sander. Replacements - Sean Cronin, Jack McGrath, Andrew Porter, Devin Toner, Jordi Murphy, Kieran Marmion, Joey Carberry, Jordan Larmour.