Preview: Italy v Red Roses
After a comprehensive win over Scotland last weekend, the Red Roses travel to Parma to take on Italy in round two of the TikTok Women's Six Nations.
Poppy Cleall has been named captain for the Test, and she is joined in the back row by Alex Matthews and Sadia Kabeya who get their first starts in the competition. Elsewhere, scrum half Natasha Hunt is set for her first appearance since November 2020.
| When | Sunday 3 April |
| Venue | Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi |
| Coverage | Live on BBC 2 |
| Kick off | 3pm |
England currently occupy top spot in the championship standings whilst the Azzurre find themselves in fifth spot, following a 39-6 defeat at the hands of the French.
"Italy are a very unpredictable side," said head coach Simon Middleton. "We always get a warm welcome from Andrea Di Giandomenico, his team and staff. They have threats which we need to be mindful of and prepared for. It’s another challenge and one we’re all looking forward to."
- Watch the game on BBC Two (KO 3pm)
- Register to hear more from the Red Roses
- Tickets for England's games against Ireland & Wales
Teams
Red Roses
15. Ellie Kildunne, 14. Lydia Thompson, 13. Holly Aitchison, 12. Helena Rowland, 11. Sarah McKenna, 10. Zoe Harrison, 9. Natasha Hunt, 1. Vickii Cornborough, 2. Lark Davies, 3. Shaunagh Brown, 4. Rosie Galligan, 5. Abbie Ward, 6. Alex Matthews, 7. Sadia Kabeya, 8. Poppy Cleall (c).
Finishers
16. Connie Powell, 17. Maud Muir, 18. Sarah Bern, 19. Sarah Hunter, 20. Vicky Fleetwood, 21. Lucy Packer, 22. Emily Scarratt, 23. Emma Sing.
Italy
15. Vittoria Ostuni Minuzzi, 14. Aura Muzzo, 13. Michela Sillari, 12. Beatrice Rigoni, 11. Maria Magatti, 10. Veronica Madia, 9. Sofia Stefan, 8. Elisa Giordano (c), 7. Isabella Locatelli, 6. Francesca Sberna, 5. Giordana Duca, 4. Sara Tuonesi, 3. Lucia Gai, 2. Melissa Bettoni, 1. Gaia Maris.
Replacements
16. Vittoria Vecchini, 17. Francesca Barro, 18. Sara Seye, 19. Valeria Fedrighi, 20. Beatrice Veronese, 21. Sara Barattin, 22. Alyssa D’Inca, 23. Manuela Furlan.
Views from Camp
Vickii Cornborough: “You don’t really know what they’re going to do. Their style of play really rattled the French so it will be a massive challenge. We need to expect the unexpected, handle it, and exploit the opportunities for counterattacking when things get a little loose.”
“We feel like we’re in third gear. We’re always striving for that perfect game and we want to pressurise the opposition in all areas of the pitch. We’ve got high calibre players and we set high standards for ourselves so we’re looking to ramp it up again for the game against Italy.”
England Head coach Simon Middleton: “We’re really looking forward to Sunday’s trip to Italy. Having reflected on the game in Scotland, we know we had plenty to improve on but we did a lot right too. We’ve had an excellent week of preparation, everyone has trained extremely well and we’re delighted with the efforts of the whole squad.
"As a squad we’re really familiar with what threat they can be. They've got an unpredictability about them so we’ve talked about expecting the unexpected. Our key message is to justify the way we train. We’ve trained so well this week, we’ve put so much into it, the girls are ready to go. We can’t play for 40 minutes, we’ve got to really impose ourselves on the game and get out of playing what we put into our training.”
"It’s been a really good trait of the side that we’ve managed to steal victory from defeat at times. On two or three occasions against France alone. The group understands that in the very biggest of games, the margins are very fine. So it’s about maintaining standards around performance and keeping it real.”
Previous encounters
- 18 April 2021: Italy 3-67 England (Six Nations)
- 1 November 2020: Italy 0-54 England (Six Nations)
- 23 November 2019: England 60-3 Italy (Quilter International)
- 9 March 2019: England 55-0 Italy (Six Nations)
- 4 February 2018: Italy 7-42 England (Six Nations)
- 13 August 2017: England 56-13 Italy (Rugby World Cup)
- 25 February 2017: England 29-15 Italy (Six Nations)
- 13 February 2016: Italy 24-33 England (Six Nations)
- 15 February 2015: England 39-5 Italy (Six Nations)
- 16 March 2014: Italy 0-24 England (Six Nations)
Key Stats
In 22 meetings with Italy, England Women have won all 22 games since their first clash at the 1991 Women's Rugby World Cup.
Italy Women finished second in the 2019 Six Nations, their best ever finish in the tournament since they joined in 2007.
The Red Roses are on a 19-match winning run.
In their last four games against Italy the Red Roses have scored over 230 points, with Italy scoring just six points in those meetings.
