England v Italy: preview, teams and key stats
England's World Cup preparations continue with the challenge of Italy on Friday.
The match is being contested at St James' Park in Newcastle and is the final of their Quilter Internationals with the team flying to Japan on Sunday.
Owen Farrell, who captains the team, starts at fly half while debutant Ruaridh McConnochie is named on the right wing with Anthony Watson at full back.
Dan Cole starts alongside Jamie George and Joe Marler in the front row with Joe Launchbury and Courtney Lawes named as the lock pairing. Mark Wilson will start at openside flanker with Tom Curry and Billy Vunipola making up the rest of the back row.
Conor O’Shea has made 11 changes to his Italy team to face England following last weekend’s loss to France in Paris.
Full-back Jayden Hayward joins Mattia Bellini and Edoardo Padovani in the back three while the midfield sees Tommaso Benvenuti partner Giulio Bisegni.
At half back there is a first Test start for Gloucester's Callum Braley and in the forwards Abraham Steyn starts and will be joined by Jimmy Tuivaiti at No 8 and Sebastian Negri.
The second row is a combination of David Sisi and Dean Budd while the front row consists of Simone Ferrari, Oliviero Fabiani and Nicola Quaglio.
- When? Friday 6 September
- Kick-off? 19:45 BST
- Where? St James' Park, Newcastle
- Coverage? Sky Sports from 7pm and BBC Radio 5 live
VIEWS FROM THE CAMP
England head coach Eddie Jones: “We are delighted to be playing against Italy, one of our traditional Six Nations rivals and the game for us is another important step to develop our game fitness and game strategy. We have gone with a mix and match selection policy to develop our adaptability and the team’s ability to cope with any situation.
“We have had a solid training week in Treviso with hot conditions so we are looking forward to testing ourselves against Italy on Friday night. Then we hop on the plane and are ready to go to Japan.”
Italy head coach Conor O'Shea: “We will face one of the strongest teams in the world in a match that represents a new step in our preparation towards the World Cup.
"We will have a new opportunity to assess the players' state of form, in order to understand later how to continue the path to the debut against Namibia. Now our focus is on England."
PREVIOUS MEETINGS
- 2010 Stadio Flaminio, Italy 12 – 17 England
- 2011 Twickenham, England 59 – 13 Italy
- 2012 Stadio Olimpico, Italy 15 – 19 England
- 2013 Twickenham, Italy 18 – 11 Italy
- 2014 Stadio Olimpico, Italy 11 – 52 England
- 2015 Twickenham, England 47 – 17 Italy
- 2016 Stadio Olimpico, 9 – 40 England
- 2017 Twickenham, England 36 – 15 Italy
- 2018 Stadio Olimpico, Italy 15 – 46 England
- 2019 Twickenham, England 57 – 14 Italy
KEY STATS
England have won each of their 25 Test encounters with Italy, the Azzurri are the only side England have faced on 10+ occasions without suffering a single defeat.
England’s 25 victories over Italy have come by an average margin of 28 points, with Italy failing to finish within 20 points of England since 2013.
England have won five of their six matches to be played on a Friday in the professional era, including each of the last four in a row – most recently a 35-11 victory in the opening match of the 2015 Rugby World Cup against Fiji.
England will play a Test match at St James’ Park for the first time, their last home game outside Twickenham coming against Uruguay in Manchester’s Etihad Stadium at the 2015 Rugby World Cup.
England have scored more points (280) and tries (35) than any other Tier 1 side in 2019, as well as maintaining the best goalkicking success rate (86%).
England’s Billy Vunipola has made 112 carries for England in 2019, the only player from any Tier 1 nation to reach triple figures for carries this calendar year.
TEAMS
England starting XV v Italy
15 Anthony Watson (Bath Rugby, 35 caps)
14 Ruaridh McConnochie (Bath Rugby, uncapped)
13 Joe Marchant (Harlequins, 2 caps)
12 Piers Francis (Northampton Saints, 7 caps)
11 Jonny May (Leicester Tigers, 46 caps)
10 Owen Farrell (Saracens, 72 caps) C
9 Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers, 88 caps)
1 Joe Marler (Harlequins, 61 caps)
2 Jamie George (Saracens, 39 caps)
3 Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers, 88 caps)
4 Joe Launchbury (Wasps, 60 caps)
5 Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints, 74 caps)
6 Tom Curry (Sale Sharks, 12 caps)
7 Mark Wilson (Newcastle Falcons/Sale Sharks, 14 caps)
8 Billy Vunipola (Saracens, 44 caps)
Finishers
16 Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs, 14 caps)
17 Ellis Genge (Leicester Tigers, 11 caps )
18 Kyle Sinckler (Harlequins, 24 caps)
19 Charlie Ewels (Bath Rugby, 11 caps)
20 Matt Kvesic (Exeter Chiefs, 3 caps)
21 Willi Heinz (Gloucester Rugby, 3 caps)
22 George Ford (Leicester Tigers, 58 caps)
23 Joe Cokanasiga (Bath Rugby, 7 caps)
Italy team to play England:
15 Jayden Hayward (Benetton Rugby, 18 caps)
14 Mattia Bellini (Zebre Rugby Club, 18 caps)
13 Giulio Bisegni (Zebre Rugby Club, 12 caps)
12 Tommaso Benvenuti (Benetton Rugby, 58 caps)
11 Edoardo Padovani (Zebre Rugby Club, 21 caps)
10 Carlo Canna (Zebre Rugby Club, 35 caps)
9 Callum Braley (Gloucester, 2 caps)
1 Nicola Quaglio (Benetton Rugby, 10 caps)
2 Oliviero Fabiani (Zebre Rugby Club, 8 caps)
3 Simone Ferrari (Benetton Rugby, 25 caps)
4 David Sisi (Zebre Rugby Club, 6 caps)
5 Dean Budd (Benetton Rugby, 22 caps) – captain
6 Sebastian Negri (Benetton Rugby, 19 caps)
7 Abraham Steyn (Benetton Rugby, 32 caps)
8 Jimmy Tuivaiti (Zebre Rugby Club, 4 caps)
Replacements
16 Federico Zani (Benetton Rugby 10 caps)
17 Andrea Lovotti (Zebre Rugby Club, 37 caps)
18 Marco Riccioni (Benetton Rugby, 3 caps)
19 Federico Ruzza (Benetton Rugby, 14 caps)
20 Alessandro Zanni (Benetton Rugby, 114 caps)
21 Maxime Mbanda' (Zebre Rugby Club, 17 caps)
22 Guglielmo Palazzani(Zebre Rugby Club, 33 caps)
23 Tommaso Allan (Benetton Rugby, 50 caps)
WHAT'S IN THE MATCHDAY PROGRAMME?
Mark Wilson has followed a well-trodden path into the England back row. Chris Hewett talks to the multi-tasking forward.
Feature taken from Friday's matchday programme. Order your copy - here
