Six Nations 2020: Ireland hope a visit from U2 superstar Bono has them ready to rock ‘n roll vs England – The Sun

IRELAND hope a visit from Bono will give them The Edge as they seek another Beautiful Day at Twickenham.

The U2 frontman visited the team base of Carton House on Tuesday night to give them a pep talk ahead of their game in London on Sunday.

Ireland clinched a Grand Slam there at Twickenham on St Patrick’s Day in 2018.

They were twice well beaten by Eddie Jones side in 2019 but can claim the Triple Crown  this weekend.

Ireland head coach Andy Farrell, who comes up against son and England captain Owen, said: “We were blown away that he gave his time up to come over and see us.

“He was top of the wish list

“We asked him to come in to be able to answer some questions, to come up with a bit of learning as to what it takes to be successful, to stay at the top for as long as he has and being an icon of the music world

“He put a lot of time and effort into it as well.

“He is obviously a proud Irish man, so he talked a bit about Irishness.

“He loves his rugby, he’s a big fan. His wife Ali came along as well and she’s a bigger fan of rugby.

“She was at the game at the weekend with The Edge.

“Apparently Bono can’t go to the games with her because she’s screaming very loud in the stands! His sons play rugby as well.”

Farrell has named an unchanged XV from the side which claimed a bonus-point 24-14 win over Wales.

And there is just one change on the bench with Caelan Doris – whose debut against Scotland was cut short after only four minutes – coming in for Max Deegan, who won his first cap the following week.

Farrell told Irish Rugby TV: “A few boys came back and gave us a few headaches but we decided to go with a similar selection and see if we can build on what we did the last time round.”

Controversial referee Jaco Peyper will take charge of England’s crunch Six Nations clash — just four months after mocking red-carded France lock Sebastien Vahaamahina.

South African Peyper red-carded Vahaamahina for an elbow in their World Cup quarter-final defeat to Wales.

And just hours after the clash, he posed with Wales fans and mocked the Frenchman – leading him to being sacked from taking charge of any more World Cup games.

Peyper’s appearance at Twickenham is his first Test match since.

And he has already got his work cut-out after Wales accused Ireland’s Tadgh Furlong in cheating at the scrum, giving England a helping hand in the build-up.

IRELAND: Larmour, Conway, Henshaw, Aki, Stockdale, Sexton, Murray, Healy, Herring,  Furlong, Ryan, Henderson, O’Mahony, Van der Flier, Stander. Replacements: Kelleher, Kilcoyne, Porter, Toner, Doris, Cooney, Byrne, Earls

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