MY ACCOUNT
England have made six changes to their starting line-up for Sunday’s Six Nations clash with Italy in Rome.
Joe Marchant moves to outside centre, while Ben Youngs, who is one cap away from equalling Jason Leonard’s national record of 114, has been dropped for Harry Randall at scrum-half.
Jack Nowell is on the wing ahead of Elliot Daly for his first England start in 1,065 days, while Alex Dombrandt comes in at eight and Charlie Ewels starts as lock alongside Nick Isiekwe.
Will Stuart and Jamie George start in the front row, the latter replacing Luke Cowan-Dickie, who drops to the bench after a costly mistake in the defeat to Scotland last week.
“We’ve set ourselves the target of playing really well and lighting up Rome,” said coach Eddie Jones. “We’ve made some changes and this is the best side to face Italy. We want to start fast and take the game to them.
“It’s been a difficult week, but the players have bounced back well, trained hard and are ready to put on a good performance on Sunday.”
Kieran Crowley makes three changes to the Italy side that lost 37-10 to France.
Federico Mori is in at 14 for Tommaso Menoncello, with Braam Steyn replacing Sebastian Negri at flanker and Pietro Ceccarelli starting in the front row ahead of Tiziano Pasquali.
England are the only side yet to lose to Italy in the Six Nations, having won all of their previous 22 meetings.
The Azzurri are on a championship-record 33-match losing streak and have not won at home since beating Ireland 22-15 at the Stadio Olimpico in 2013.
However, Jones’ men are at risk of losing their opening two rounds of the same Six Nations competition since 2005, when they were beaten by Wales and France.
England team: Freddie Steward, Max Malins, Joe Marchant, Henry Slade, Jack Nowell, Marcus Smith, Harry Randall; Ellis Genge, Jamie George, Will Stuart, Charlie Ewels, Nick Isiekwe, Maro Itoje, Alex Dombrandt, Tom Curry.
Replacements: Luke Cowan-Dickie, Joe Marler, Kyle Sinckler, Ollie Chessum, Sam Simmonds, Ben Youngs, George Ford, Elliot Daly.
Italy team: Edoardo Padovani, Federico Mori, Juan Ignacio Brex, Marco Zanon, Montanna Ioane, Paolo Garbisi, Stephen Varney; Danilo Fischetti, Gianmarco Lucchesi, Pietro Ceccarelli, Niccolo Cannone, Federico Ruzza, Braam Steyn, Michele Lamaro, Toa Halafihi.
Replacements: Epalahame Faiva, Cherif Traore, Tiziano Pasquali, David Sisi, Sebastian Negri, Giovanni Pettinelli, Alessandro Fusco, Leonardo Marin.
