Tom Curry will captain the side as England make six personnel and two positional changes; Joe Launchbury, who was brought into camp this week does not make the match-day squad; England have never lost to Italy in the Guinness Six Nations; the match has a 3pm kick-off on Sunday
Last Updated: 11/02/22 12:07pm
Eddie Jones has handed a start to Harry Randall at scrum-half as one of six changes for Sunday’s Six Nations Test against Italy, with Marcus Smith retaining his place at fly-half.
Randall is set to earn his third international cap in Rome while Jack Nowell will make his first start for England since 2019 on the wing. Joe Marchant moves into midfield, one of the two positional changes made by Jones.
Jamie George starts at hooker and forms a front row unit with vice-captain Ellis Genge and Will Stuart.
Charlie Ewels is handed a start at lock as Maro Itoje shifts into the back row. Joe Launchbury, who was brought into camp this week after Lewis Ludlham’s injury, does not make the match-day squad.
Off the bench, Ben Youngs could become the joint most-capped England men’s player of all time. The 32-year-old will add to his 113 caps if he takes to the field at the Stadio Olimpico.
Ollie Chessum is in line to make his England debut off the bench.
“We’ve set ourselves the target of playing really well and lighting up Rome,” Jones said.” “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.
“They can be a dangerous team and have some very good players in the likes of Paolo Garbisi, Sebastian Negri and Michele Lamaro.
“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.”
England XV: 15. Freddie Steward, 14. Max Malins, 13. Joe Marchant, 12. Henry Slade (vice-captain), 11. Jack Nowell, 10. Marcus Smith, 9. Harry Randall; 1. Ellis Genge (vice-captain), 2. Jamie George, 3. Will Stuart, 4. Charlie Ewels, 5. Nick Isiekwe, 6. Maro Itoje, 7. Tom Curry (captain), 8. Alex Dombrandt.
Replacements: 16. Luke Cowan-Dickie (vice-captain), 17. Joe Marler, 18. Kyle Sinckler, 19. Ollie Chessum, 20. Sam Simmonds, 21. Ben Youngs, 22. George Ford, 23. Elliot Daly.
More to follow…