England v Italy preview: facts, stats and teams
Ahead of England’s 2021 Guinness Six Nations match against Italy, here is everything you need to know.
Eddie Jones has named a whole new front row as Mako Vunipola and Kyle Sinckler return from injury and suspension respectively, and Luke Cowan-Dickie is in between them at hooker.
George Ford is back at fly half as captain Owen Farrell moves to inside centre in the only change in the backs, with Courtney Lawes coming in at blind-side flanker bringing England's changes to five from the defeat to Scotland.
Italy have made two changes after their opening round 10-50 defeat at home to France with prop Andrea Lovotti added to the front row and Carlo Canna coming in at inside centre.
The Azzurri are on a run of 28 straight losses in the Six Nations with their last victory in 2015 against Scotland and will be looking for a first ever Test win against England.
- When? Saturday, 13 February
- Kick-off? 1415 GMT
- Where? Twickenham Stadium, London
- Coverage? Live on ITV 1, BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra
Views from the camp
England head coach Eddie Jones: “As always, we’ve picked what we think is our strongest 23 to try and win the game.
“We’re pleased to have Mako and Kyle back into the team and we’ve made some changes to our starting XV, but our finishers are just as important to our game plan. We look at the whole 80 minutes.
“We’ve trained very well this week, I’ve been very pleased with the players’ attitudes and work-rate. We’re hoping to put on a good performance on Saturday and kick on with our Guinness Six Nations campaign.”
England captain Owen Farrell: "I was massively disappointed with my performance at the weekend but we’re now looking forward to this week. We’ve got a good feeling in and around the place at the minute and we’ve felt like we’ve prepared well and used the disappointment from last weekend so far.
"It’s been a good response. There were a few days of disappointment but by the time training came around the lads couldn’t wait to get out there, there were a lot of good conversations that went on and it’s made for a better training week.”
Italy head coach Franco Smith: “We will face one of the best teams in the world in an iconic stadium.
“We have been working hard this week with further focus on some factors with the aim of having a high performance level on Saturday.”
ENGLAND TRAINING AT THE LENSBURY FOR ITALY
Previous meetings
2020: Italy 5-34 England - Stadio Olimpico, Rome (Six Nations)
2019: England 37-0 Italy - St James' Park, Newcastle (World Cup warm-up)
2019: England 57-14 Italy - Twickenham Stadium, London (Six Nations)
2018: Italy 15-46 England - Stadio Olimpico, Rome (Six Nations)
2017: England 36-15 Italy - Twickenham Stadium, London (Six Nations)
2016: Italy 9-40 England - Stadio Olimpico, Rome (Six Nations)
2015: England 47-17 Italy - Twickenham Stadium, London (Six Nations)
2014: Italy 11-52 England - Stadio Olimpico, Rome (Six Nations)
2013: England 18-11 Italy - Twickenham Stadium, London (Six Nations)
2012: Italy 15-19 England - Stadio Olimpico, Rome (Six Nations)
Key stats
- England have won each of their 21 fixtures against Italy in the Six Nations, they are the only team yet to suffer defeat against the Azzurri in the Championship.
- England have hosted Italy on 10 occasions in the Six Nations, winning each of those 10 fixtures by an average margin of 31 points and scoring 5.6 tries per game.
- Italy have won just twice away from home in the Six Nations (D1, L50), with both victories coming against Scotland at BT Murrayfield (2007 & 2015); their 2015 win in Edinburgh was remains the Azzurri’s most recent win in the Championship.
- England lost to Scotland at Twickenham on the opening weekend of this year’s Six Nations, they’ve not lost back-to-back games at home in the 5/6 Nations since 1983 (v France & Scotland).
- England have won their Round 2 match in each of their previous 11 Six Nations campaigns, last losing their second game of the campaign back in 2009 (15-23 v Wales).
- England have scored a tally of 109 tries against Italy in the Six Nations, no other team has scored 100+ tries against a single opponent in the tournament.
- Italy managed a tackle success rate of just 76% against France in Round 1 of this year’s Six Nations, only once has a side had a worse rate than this in the Championship since 2007 (Italy 69% v France in 2017).
- Since the start of the 2018 Six Nations England have won 80 of 82 scrums on their own feed in the Championship, the best success rate of any side in that time (98%).
- Owen Farrell has scored 112 points against Italy in eight previous encounters with them, his average of 14 points per game is his best rate against anyone he has faced more than once; 15 of those 112 points have come from three tries, more than he has scored against the other Six Nations sides combined (1 v France and 1 v Scotland).
- Jonny May has 31 tries for England, one more would leave him in standalone second spot on England’s top try scorers list behind just Rory Underwood (49, Will Greenwood and Ben Cohen both 31 tries too); he has just one try in seven previous matches against Italy however.
Teams
England
15. Elliot Daly (Saracens, 48 caps)
14. Anthony Watson (Bath Rugby, 47 caps)
13. Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs, 35 caps)
12. Owen Farrell (C) (Saracens, 89 caps)
11. Jonny May (Gloucester Rugby, 62 caps)
10. George Ford (Leicester Tigers, 73 caps)
9. Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers, 105 caps)
1. Mako Vunipola (Saracens, 63 caps)
2. Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs, 27 caps)
3. Kyle Sinckler (Bristol Bears, 40 caps)
4. Maro Itoje (Saracens, 44 caps)
5. Jonny Hill (Exeter Chiefs, 5 caps)
6. Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints, 86 caps)
7. Tom Curry (Sale Sharks, 29 caps)
8. Billy Vunipola (Saracens, 57 caps)
Finishers
16. Jamie George (Saracens, 55 caps)
17. Ellis Genge (Leicester Tigers, 24 caps)
18. Will Stuart (Bath Rugby, 9 caps)
19. Charlie Ewels (Bath Rugby, 17 caps)
20. Ben Earl (Bristol Bears, 9 caps)
21. Jack Willis (Wasps, 2 caps)
22. Dan Robson (Wasps, 8 caps)
23. Max Malins (Bristol Bears, 4 caps)
Italy
15 Jacopo Trulla (Kawasaki Robot Calvisano, 4 caps)
14 Luca Sperandio (Benetton Rugby, 9 caps)
13 Juan Ignacio Brex (Benetton Rugby, 1 cap)
12 Carlo Canna (Zebre Rugby Club, 48 caps)
11 Montanna Ioane (Benetton Rugby, 2 caps)
10 Paolo Garbisi (Benetton Rugby, 6 caps)
9 Stephen Varney(Gloucester Rugby, 4 caps)
8 Michele Lamaro (Benetton Rugby, 3 caps)
7 Johan Meyer (Zebre Rugby Club, 10 caps)
6 Sebastian Negri (Benetton Rugby, 29 caps)
5 David Sisi (Zebre Rugby Club, 12 caps)
4 Marco Lazzaroni (Benetton Rugby, 12 caps)
3 Marco Riccioni (Benetton Rugby, 8 caps)
2 Luca Bigi (C) (Zebre Rugby Club, 33 caps)
1 Andrea Lovotti (Zebre Rugby Club, 43 caps)
Replacements
16 Gianmarco Lucchesi (Benetton Rugby, 3 caps)
17 Danilo Fischetti (Zebre Rugby Club, 9 caps)
18 Giosuè Zilocchi (Zebre Rugby Club, 11 caps)
19 Niccolò Cannone (Benetton Rugby, 9 caps)
20 Federico Ruzza (Benetton Rugby, 20 caps)
21 Guglielmo Palazzani (Zebre Rugby Club, 42 caps)
22 Tommaso Allan (Benetton Rugby, 60 caps)
23 Federico Mori (Kawasaki Robot Calvisano, 5 caps)
Related topics
- Attack
- T - Tries
- M - Metres carried
- C - Carries
- DB - Defenders beaten
- CB - Clean breaks
- P - Passes
- O - Offloads
- TC - Turnovers conceded
- TA - Try assists
- PTS - Points
- Defence
- Tackles - Tackles
- MT - Missed tackles
- TW - Turnovers won
- Kicking
- K - Kicks in play
- C - Conversions
- PG - Penalty goals
- DG - Drop goals
- Set plays
- TW - Throws won
- LW - Lineouts won
- LS - Lineout steals
- Discipline
- PC - Penalties conceded
- RC - Red cards
- YC - Yellow cards
England defeat Italy in Six Nations
England scored six tries en route to a 41-18 win over Italy at Twickenham in the second round of the Guinness Six Nations.
Italy struck inside the opening four minutes, given quick front-foot ball, they spread it to the left flank where Montanna Ioane found space to surge over in the corner. Fly half Paolo Garbisi was unable to convert the try.
But captain Owen Farrell quickly reduced the deficit to two points with an easy penalty in front of the sticks, before Jonny Hill crashed over from close range on the 14-minute mark for his first Test try.
Garbisi levelled the match at 8-8 converting a straightforward penalty, before the hosts scored a second as Anthony Watson danced through the Azzurri defence to run in unopposed under the posts.
As half time approached Italy enjoyed phases of threatening attack deep inside England territory, but each carry was met with stubborn defence, and their promising position was eventually thwarted.
Eddie Jones’ men bagged their third try in the final play of the half, as Jonny May showcased incredible acrobatic prowess to leap over the covering tackle of Luca Sperandio and dot down in the corner making it 20-8.
The score marked May’s 32nd Test try, moving him above Will Greenwood and Ben Cohen to second spot on England’s top try scorers list.
A clever cross-field kick from Garbisi to Ioane brought immediate life to the second half as the winger collected it and cantered 60 metres before being brought down by Farrell. The resulting ruck saw a penalty go Italy’s way, and Garbisi was on hand to convert.
Italy continued to build on their early second half dominance, stringing smart passes together inside England’s 22, but Watson shifted that momentum by intercepting one of them and running it in for his second try, securing England a bonus-point in doing so.
Jones began to unload his finishers in the final quarter of the match, and they had an immediate impact. Scrum half Dan Robson, opting for a tap-and-go, jinked out of tackles and all the way to the Italian line before Jack Willis - only on the field a matter of seconds - powered over from close range. Farrell's conversion made it 34-11.
Unfortunately Willis was forced to leave the field moments later, after a dangerous clear out saw him unable to continue. Italy scored on the resumption of the game via Tommaso Allan - who converted his own try.
But England hit back, Elliot Daly on hand to score England's sixth and simplest try. Farrell's extras made it 41-18 at full-time, extending their winning record against Italy in the Six Nations to 22 games.
Reaction
It was a step in the right direction, our intent was a lot better today especially up front, we probably didn't get the rewards we wanted but in terms of the intent and showing how much it means to play for our country it was a step in the right direction."
Sinckler post match
It's not a perfect performance, but in terms of the feeling, the energy and intensity it felt back to us. I thought we attacked the game. Our intent was brilliant, we moved the ball and got in behind them, not everything went our way but we stuck at it."
Farrell post match
Teams
England
15. Elliot Daly, 14. Anthony Watson, 13. Henry Slade, 12. Owen Farrell (C), 11. Jonny May, 10. George Ford, 9. Ben Youngs, 1. Mako Vunipola, 2. Luke Cowan-Dickie, 3. Kyle Sinckler, 4. Maro Itoje, 5. Jonny Hill, 6. Courtney Lawes, 7. Tom Curry, 8. Billy Vunipola.
Finishers
16. Jamie George, 17. Ellis Genge, 18. Will Stuart, 19. Charlie Ewels, 20. Ben Earl, 21. Jack Willis,
22. Dan Robson, 23. Max Malins.
Italy
15. Jacopo Trulla, 14. Luca Sperandio, 13. Juan Ignacio Brex, 12. Carlo Canna, 11. Montanna Ioane, 10. Paolo Garbisi, 9. Stephen Varney, 1. Andrea Lovotti, 2. Luca Bigi (C), 3. Marco Riccioni, 4. Marco Lazzaroni, 5. David Sisi, 6. Sebastian Negri, 7 Johan Meyer, 8. Michele Lamaro.
Replacements
16. Gianmarco Lucchesi, 17. Danilo Fischetti, 18. Giosuè Zilocchi, 19. Niccolò Cannone, 20. Federico Ruzza, 21. Guglielmo Palazzani, 22. Tommaso Allan, 23. Federico Mori.
Fixtures & results
6 Feb - England 6-11 Scotland
13 Feb - England 41-18 Italy
27 Feb - Wales v England | 4.45pm KO
13 March - England v France | 4.45pm KO
20 March - Ireland v England | 4.45pm KO
