Complicating Lancaster's task is that the last time the powerful Tuilagi played for England, he scored one and created two of their three tries in a stunning upset over world champions New Zealand in December.

With the other positions behind the scrum seemingly settled, there appears to be no way Lancaster can, or indeed would, start all three centres against an Ireland side who opened their Six Nations with a victory away to defending champions Wales.

Lancaster is due to name his side tomorrow and Mike Catt, the England skills coach, admitted that he faced a tricky, if welcome, decision.

"It is always difficult but it is a great headache to have," said former England utility back Catt. "From a team point of view you have three guys and each of them bring special attributes. It is great Billy has come along and performed the way he did against Scotland on his debut.

"Manu has been out of the game for three or four weeks. We will see how they all train and we will go accordingly from there.

"If the guys have performed exceptionally well on the weekend, the guys coming in need to make sure they have the tempo and up the intensity to really put their hands forward."

However, with Ireland likely to field a back division boasting the talent of flyhalf Jonathan Sexton and Brian O'Driscoll, outstanding against Wales, Catt was not one for under-playing the importance of Barritt's defensive work.

"It would be very hard [taking him out of the equation]," Catt said.

England No 8 Ben Morgan has not yet been ruled out of Sunday's match but the back-row forward, who sprained his ankle early in the second half against Scotland, was seen wearing a protective boot on Tuesday and looks increasingly unlikely to feature at Lansdowne Road.

That could lead to a return to the starting lineup for James Haskell while uncapped Wasps No 8 Billy Vunipola, younger brother of England prop Mako, is also in contention.