England v Italy

ENGLAND are looking to get their first win of the Six Nations campaign with a victory over resurgent Italy.The Red Rose will be determined to put thei.

Ollie Chessum, 5. Ollie Hassell-Collins, 10. Ollie Lawrence, 11. Tommaso Allan, 9. There will be a new partnership in the centre, with Henry Slade returning from a hip injury to partner Ollie Lawrence in the middle. Tommaso Menoncello, 10. England will need to be wary of the playmaker this afternoon. England will go into this game as heavy favourites to win the game, but after their Calcutta Cup defeat at Twickenham last weekend, Italy will fancy their chances. Ranked sixth in the world, England will be keen to start climbing the world rankings in their build up to the World Cup in France. This is the mentality that English rugby needs to readdress as Italy are no longer that side you can boost your points difference against and they need to be wary of the overconfidence of the old guard who are still looking from a viewpoint of a bygone era. Their first goal, is to start climbing the Guinness Six Nations table by putting in a performance today and claiming the win over the Azzurri. ENGLAND are looking to get their first win of the Six Nations campaign with a victory over resurgent Italy.

England take on Italy today in the second round of the Guinness Six Nations. England began with a shock defeat at home to Scotland last weekend in Steve ...

“We are at the start of what is a completely new cycle of England Rugby. Steve Borthwick: “We welcome an exciting and in form Italy team to Twickenham on Sunday. Tommaso Allan, 9. Tommaso Menoncello; 10. ITV1 are also showing the game. Ollie Chessum; 6. Ollie Hassell-Collins; 10. Ollie Lawrence, 11. “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.” 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. “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. The game will be shown live on RTE and will be streamed live on the RTE Player.

Plus: latest team news as England drop Marcus Smith, and the referee who will take charge at Twickenham.

A thumping of Samoa, followed by a statement victory over the Wallabies and an almighty scare of the French, kindles hope that they will not flatter to deceive once more. Capuozzo, fresh from a try of dazzling opportunism in the five-point loss to France, is relishing the chance of a repeat. Despite the poor record you still get the sense that England (players and fans) expect to beat the visitors today. But they have really shown their worth in the last few matches. Borthwick illustrated he wouldn’t be shy at wielding the axe with his first squad - Jack Nowell, Anthony Watson, Manu Tuilagi and and Billy Vunipola all dropped - but it is with this move that he can really contrast himself from the Jones era. Such is the perennial high standards of an England fan that Borthwick's men are expected to beat Italy today. There are always articles about whether they should be replaced in the Six Nations by Georgia. The two wins in Australia aside, you could argue that they've beaten no one of note since 2021, which brings us to today's clash against Italy. For obvious reasons nearly all the focus regards the changes made in the England midfield has been on Smith being dropped and Farrell starting at 10 for the first time in two years. But the combination of Lawrence and Slade in the centre is well worth examination. Borthwick conceded that inside centre has been a tricky position for England, yet pointed out that youngsters are coming through. But he's in the starting XV today and as Charlie Morgan writes:

History beckons. Italy sniff a first ever win against England while new Twickenham boss Steve Borthwick is desperate to get off the mark after a ...

[Ange Capuozzo](https://www.rugbyworld.com/players/who-is-ange-capuozzo-139673) will captivate the Twickenham crowd. - England have lost each of their last two home games in the Guinness Six Nations. - Ellis Genge and Lewis Ludlam each made 18 carries in Round 1, the joint-most of any player. England v Italy kicks off at 3pm GMT on Sunday 12 February. “We are at the start of what is a completely new cycle of England Rugby. “I have selected a team I believe is best placed to meet the specific challenges Italy will bring. [How to watch the Six Nations from anywhere](https://www.rugbyworld.com/tournaments/rugby-six-nations/six-nations-live-stream-how-to-watch-from-anywhere-114850) In the pack, Jack Willis starts on the openside after his Toulouse commitments hampered his chances of selection for the Calcutta Cup. Henry Slade returns at outside centre, with Borthwick effusive in his praise of the Exeter Chiefs man during the week. England’s most-capped male, scrum-half Ben Youngs, is also excluded with Northampton Saints’ Alex Mitchell providing cover for Jack van Poortvliet. Kieran Crowley’s men are a rejuvenated entertaining outfit with wins over Wales and Australia in 2022 in the back pocket. But 12 months ago, who thought that would have even been possible?

Doleman found himself in former England coach Eddie Jones' bad books after taking charge of his side's clash with Australia last summer. Jones' England fell to ...

When you play against 14 men the referee has a significant impact on the game and you’ve got to be good enough to understand what that is and we weren’t good enough to understand what that is. The Kiwi was then appointed to officiate the first Test of Australia and England's rubber last year, having only made his international debut in 2021. Born in Tauranga, New Zealand in 1991, Doleman spent much of his childhood in the Philippines and China and began refereeing as a student. But hoping to stay out of any controversy is the man in the middle for the second round match, James Doleman. That’s normal and we’ve got to be good enough to handle it. England host Italy at Twickenham this weekend as they look for their first win of this year's Six Nations.

Borthwick has broken up the divisive Owen Farrell-Marcus Smith playmaking partnership here, with Farrell back at fly-half and Smith dropped to the bench, with ...

But they’ve had three weeks now, so I expect that defence will be a lot more solid. Last weekend’s false start in a 29-23 defeat by Scotland has unhinged not only the Red Rose side’s new dawn, but also the midfield. Time for the national anthems. Eddie Jones’ successor as England head coach endured a disappointing debut on home soil last weekend, with the Calcutta Cup lost for the third year in a row thanks to Duhan van der Merwe’s heroics in a thrilling 29-23 triumph for Scotland. Follow England vs Italy live below, with expert analysis from Nick Purewal at Twickenham. The visitors, meanwhile, draft in Edoardo Padovani and Marco Riccioni in two changes from round one.

And it's national anthem time. I am a big fan of the Italian one - almost operatic in nature and, I imagine, great to sing along to.

Farrell was authoritative and defended well and England kicked noticeably better than they did against Scotland, although the clearly predetermined strategy to kick in behind was frustrating. And in that respect, this was a step forward. The former was a deserved recipient of the Man of the Match award. And the fact that it took 70 minutes for an England back to get on the scoresheet – England’s wunderkind Henry Arundell crossing in the corner from fellow replacement Alex Mitchell’s pass. But the match was long since over by then and England’s shape had gone with it. He conceded England’s ruck speed could have been better but defended England’s style overall, pointing out that Italy had “the quickest ruck speed of any team in the Six Nations last weekend... His return, after the horrendous knee injury he suffered in this fixture two years ago, and the collapse of his club Wasps, is a major plus for England. A couple of bone-crunching hits could be heard from up in the stands. The 81,609 present would have been even more delighted had a superb try from Jack van Poortvliet stood – the one real moment of England magic, conjured by Max Malins, who dummied, broke upfield, and then passed brilliantly inside to the England scrum half. But in the broader arc, it was a positive step. Up front, Jack Willis made a sensational return to the starting lineup, scoring a try and racking up 20 tackles and a turnover in his 52 minutes on the field. The more generous appraisal – and surely the correct one?

Minute-by-minute updates: Can England get their Six Nations campaign up and running against Italy? Join Lee Calvert.

However, this forgets not only the history of results, but also the nature of them, because no matter how poor England look (and they didn’t look that poor last week, let’s be honest) they always batter Italy. A symbol of our times is the dubious social media phenomenon “DHOTYA” - the Didn’t Happen Of The Year Awards, where nominations are taken for events shared on Twitter and the like that people doubt have occurred. Chessum’s next contribution is to be in the way when Varney tries to get the ball at the ruck and Italy will have an early penalty to kick to touch. The Italian lineout secures the ball on the England 22, but their ruck is not very secure and this allows Itoje to counter-ruck and force Italy to seal off the ball. Italy did a horrible job of defending that maul, and have been under the boot in their own have for the whole match thus far. The zip and shape from the France game is nowhere to be seen so far, and to make it worse it looks like Lamaro is injured after he was (legally) crunched by Itoje. Eventually, Jack Willis holds up a runner with a choke tackle and England clear the ball. England’s ninth lineout of the match is pulled into a maul on the Italy 22. Italy have some possession around halfway, and settle into the lateral patterns that are line spoon-feeding England midfield defensive rush. In the wake of the tackle, there was a knock-on by Steward, do Italy will have to play out from a scrum. England look disorganised by get back in shape sharpish to frustrate the visitors. Italy win the lineout, but the imprecision is creeping back in as the ball goes to ground as they look to spread it wide.