Preview: England v Italy
Everything you need to know ahead of England's Guinness Six Nations fixture against Italy at Twickenham.
It's a new look England midfield as Henry Slade returns to the team at outside centre, with Ollie Lawrence named inside centre.
| When? | Sunday 12 February |
| Where? | Twickenham Stadium |
| Kick off? | 15:00 |
Captain Owen Farrell moves to fly half and Jack van Poortvliet remains at scrum half. Last week’s debutant Ollie Hassell-Collins is on the left wing, Max Malins is on the right and Freddie Steward is full back.
In the only change to the pack from last weekend, Jack Willis comes in at openside flanker, as Lewis Ludlam (blindside) and Alex Dombrandt (No. 8) retain their places.
VIEWS FROM CAMP
Owen Farrell: "The six nations isn’t decided on the first week. The thing we’ve got to do is focus on how we improve. We’re right at the start of what we’re doing, and we’ve got to keep our energy and enthusiasm high in ripping into whatever’s next.
"In the time we’ve been in camp we’ve really made some strides, and that’s not always the case. These been some great effort being put into making sure we get up to speed as quick as we can."
Steve Borthwick: "We welcome an exciting and in form Italy team to Twickenham on Sunday," said Borthwick. "We recognise and respect the very real threat they pose in this Six Nations Championship and we are preparing accordingly.
"Notwithstanding the disappointment of last weekend’s Calcutta Cup result, we know that in a very short space of time positive steps have been taken towards the manner and style in which we want to play our rugby.
"We are at the start of what is a completely new cycle of England Rugby. The implementation of new systems does take time and the squad is showing themselves to be hungry to deliver the sort of performance that we know they are capable of.
"From the squad, I have selected a team for Sunday’s fixture that I believe is best placed to meet the specific challenges that Italy will bring. It is a selection of players whose form, individual strengths and combined qualities suit the way we want to play against Italy, in what we anticipate will be another hard-fought and entertaining spectacle."
PREVIOUS ENCOUNTERS
2022: Italy 0-33 England
2021: England 41-18 Italy
2020: Italy 5-34 England
2019: England 37-0 Italy
2019 England 57-14 Italy
STATS
England have won each of their 23 matches against Italy in the Guinness Six Nations and are the only nation the Azzurri are yet to beat since joining the Championship in 2000.
Italy won their most recent away game in the Guinness Six Nations, against Wales in Round 5 last year, however they’ve never won consecutive away matches in the Championship.
England were the only side to carry for over 1000 metres in the opening round of this year’s Guinness Six Nations (1039), while Italy made the second most metres (828)
Italy have won three of their last four Test matches away from home, as many as they’d won in their previous 31 such fixtures.
TEAMS
England
Starting
15. Freddie Steward, 14. Max Malins, 13. Henry Slade, 12. Ollie Lawrence, 11. Ollie Hassell-Collins, 10. Owen Farrell (C), 9. Jack van Poortvliet, 1. Ellis Genge (VC), 2. Jamie George, 3. Kyle Sinckler, 4. Maro Itoje, 5. Ollie Chessum, 6. Lewis Ludlam, 7. Jack Willis, 8. Alex Dombrandt
Replacements
16. Jack Walker, 17. Mako Vunipola, 18. Dan Cole, 19. Nick Isiekwe, 20. Ben Earl, 21. Alex Mitchell, 22. Marcus Smith, 23. Henry Arundell
Italy
15. Ange Capuozzo; 14. Edoardo Padovani, 13. Juan Ignacio Brex, 12. Luca Morisi, 11. Tommaso Menoncello; 10. Tommaso Allan, 9.Stephen Varney; 1. Danilo Fischetti, 2. Giacomo Nicotera, 3. Marco Riccioni; 4. Niccolo Cannone, 5. Federico Ruzza; 6. Sebastian Negri, 7. Michele Lamaro (capt), 8. Lorenzo Cannone
Replacements
16. Luca Bigi, 17. Federico Zani, 18. Simone Ferrari, 19. Edoardo Iachizzi, 20. Jake Polledri, 21. Manuel Zuliani, 22. Alessandro Fusco, 23. Pierre Bruno.
