Six Nations: England V Italy Preview

An unchanged England side will face struggling Italy this Saturday at Twickenham, with English grand slam dreams unexpectedly ignited after victory in Cardiff. It may be Valentine's Day, but there will be no love lost between the sides when they take to the turf, even if one of them wears a red rose above their hearts.

England are the obvious favourites going into this game – even the most passionate and optimistic of Italian fans would admit that – but there is no guarantee that the scoreline will be one-sided. Although the last meeting between these teams ended 11-52 to England, Italy’s last visit to Twickenham was a tight affair, with only seven points between the sides. In the five meetings before that, three were won by five points or less. England should take heed from history – the Azzurri are no pushovers, and only a late flourish from Ireland last week made the scoreline more flattering than perhaps it should have been.

Mike Brown bagged two tries the last time he faced Italy

Having said that, England will be all too aware that points difference could be the deciding factor when they face off against Ireland in Dublin at the end of the tournament, and the men in white will be looking to pile on the points. However, they must not go into the game expecting to score tries from the first minute – Italy are a better side than that. England should aim to strangle the life out of the Italians before looking to ship the ball wide. By relying on another strong forward performance, dominating the set piece and building a lead through penalties, England will put pressure on Italy and force them to start chasing the game. This is when mistakes start to be made, mismatches occur, and the likes of Jonathan Joseph, Jonny May, and Anthony Watson can snap up tries.

As always, Sergio Parisee will be at the heart of this Italian side. The Italian captain has more caps than England’s entire backrow, whilst recalled flanker Mauro Bergamasco has the same amount (100). If the trio of Chris Robshaw, James Haskell, and Billy Vunipola can gain the upper hand over their Italian counterparts, and keep Captain Fantastic quiet, England will have an easier time of it.

James Haskell gave a massive performance last week

There is experience in the Italian backline as well, albeit out of position – fullback Andrea Masi moves into the centres for the injured Michele Campagnaro. This is a somewhat strange choice considering the danger posed by the 10 – 12 combination of Allan and Haimona in the final minutes against Ireland. Having measured up so well against the experienced duo of Jamie Roberts and Jonathan Davies in Cardiff, Luther Burrell and Jonathan Joseph should be full of confidence going into this encounter.

Whilst there have been changes aplenty amongst the Azzurri, it seems like the first time in living memory that Stuart Lancaster has selected the same 23 two weeks in a row. This can only be a good decision following the performance against Wales. If the likes of James Haskell, Jonathan Joseph, and Dave Attwood continue to deliver performances on a level with last week, the absences of sure starters Manu Tuilagi, Courtney Lawes, and Tom Wood will be barely noticeable. It’s a selection headache for Stuart Lancaster, but a delight for England fans who, only a few weeks ago, were so worried about the impact that injuries were having with a World Cup only months away. Hopefully we will get a chance to see what Danny Cipriani and Tom Croft can contribute this week, after they went unused against Wales.

Prediction: The question is not so much who will win, but by how much. Expect England to start slow, accumulating points through the boot of George Ford, before opening up in the second half. Sadly, it’s set to be heartbreak once again for Italy this Valentine’s Day. England by 20.

Match Information:

England: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Anthony Watson, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Luther Burrell, 11 Jonny May, 10 George Ford, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Chris Robshaw (c), 6 James Haskell, 5 George Kruis, 4 Dave Attwood, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley, 1 Joe Marler.

Replacements: 16 Tom Youngs, 17 Mako Vunipola, 18 Kieran Brookes, 19 Nick Easter, 20 Tom Croft, 21 Richard Wigglesworth, 22 Danny Cipriani, 23 Billy Twelvetrees.

Italy: 15 Luke McLean, 14 Leonardo Sarto, 13 Luca Morisi, 12 Andrea Masi, 11 Giovambattista Venditti, 10 Kelly Haimona, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Sergio Parisse, 7 Francesco Minto, 6 Mauro Bergamasco, 5 Marco Bortolami, 4 George Fabio Biagi, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Alberto De Marchi.

Replacements: 16 Andrea Manici, 17 Matias Aguero, 18 Dario Chistolini, 19 Joshua Furno, 20 Samuela Vunisa, 21 Guglielmo Palazzani, 22 Tommaso Allan, 23 Giulio Bisegni.

Date: Saturday, February 14

Kickoff: 14:30 GMT

Venue: Twickenham

Referee: Johnny Lacey (Ireland)

Assistant Referees: Pascal Gauzère (France), Mike Fraser (New Zealand)

TMO: George Ayoub (Australia)