Key occasions
2 min: George hits his jumper from England’s first line-out, however Italy have it again quickly after and kick on Daly who runs it again.
Kick-off!
Righto, anthems executed, the fireworks have been set off, the smoke has cleared and away we go!
Ben Earl walks out onto the pitch by himself on the event of his fiftieth Test.
Rome seems to be scrumptious! The solely stadium within the competitors I’ve but to go to.
Loads of England followers in attendance. An absence of assist gained’t be an excuse for them.
Does common contributor Guy Hornsby converse for all England followers?
“I am not full of confidence today, Daniel. We are coming to this in semi-disarray, falling apart off the back of our 12 match run, now a distant memory. Against a team on the up full of excellent players, there are so many big battles, no more so than their centre partnership. You feel Brex and Menoncello v Atkinson and Freeman could decide it. Atkinson is a huge talent but what a way to come back into the team. Freeman is arguably one of our best players, but a work in progress at 13. If their defence falters, we could get torn open. You feel the battle up front will go a long way to deciding it, but make no mistake: on form, Italy winning will be no shock. England have a mountain to climb. A gritty win today will be just fine with many England fans.”
Update on England’s group
With Tom Curry injuring himself throughout the warm-up, Sam Underhill will begin.
Chandler Cunningham-South strikes to the bench.
That adjustments the complexity of England’s second half. Underhill gained’t really feel like a significant departure from Curry however Cunningham-South is a special type of athlete. Along with Ollie Chessum England’s bench now seems to be fairly hefty. Curious to see if that makes a distinction.
England: 15 Elliot Daly; 14 Tom Roebuck, 13 Tommy Freeman, 12 Seb Atkinson, 11 Cadan Murley; 10 Fin Smith, 9 Ben Spencer; 1 Ellis Genge, 2 Jamie George, 3 Joe Heyes, 4 Maro Itoje, 5 Alex Coles, 6 Guy Pepper, 7 Sam Underhill , 8 Ben Earl.
Replacements: 16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Bevan Rodd, 18 Trevor Davison, 19 Ollie Chessum, 20 Chandler Cunningham-South 21 Henry Pollock, 22 Jack Van Poortvliet, 23 Marcus Smith
The crows have been circling, the wolves have been howling, the omens have been, nicely, ominous.
Here’s some studying as we construct up:
Michael Aylwin wonders if that is Italy’s greatest probability:
Ugo Monye says that England’s secret weapon ain’t so secret anymore:
Robert Kitson argues that contemporary faces may make the distinction:
And Gerard Meagher heard from Jamie George:
Underhill slots into the beginning group.
Now a query of who strikes onto the bench.
Tom Curry limps off earlier than kick-off!
The temper has darkened forward of the opening whistle as Tom Curry hobbles off with an damage throughout warm-up.
Sam Underhill will begin. Chandler Cunningham-South will transfer to the bench.
We’ve had our first correspondenc and it’s from Paul Moody who’s in Brazil.
“[I’ve got] mixed feelings as a London born fella. Had hopes for England , but they have met reality hard. Still hope excitement,
Canoa quebrada, ceara”
England group
Steve Borthwick has made 9 adjustments to his group, greater than some other England coach within the Six Nations.
Tommy Freeman is the one backline participant to maintain his place within the beginning group however he’s been shifted to exterior centre, becoming a member of Seb Atkinson who has been tasked with offering punch in midfield.
Elliot Daly begins at fullback with Fin Smith changing George Ford – who misses out solely – at fly-half. Ben Spencer replaces the injured Alex Mitchell at scrum-half.
The again row nonetheless seems to be mild with Ben Earl and Tom Curry joined by Guy Pepper. Henry Pollock strikes again to his common spot on the bench.
Ollie Chessum’s on the wooden too, alongside Sam Underhill and Marcus Smith.
England: 15 Elliot Daly; 14 Tom Roebuck, 13 Tommy Freeman, 12 Seb Atkinson, 11 Cadan Murley; 10 Fin Smith, 9 Ben Spencer; 1 Ellis Genge, 2 Jamie George, 3 Joe Heyes, 4 Maro Itoje, 5 Alex Coles, 6 Guy Pepper, 7 Tom Curry, 8 Ben Earl.
Replacements: 16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Bevan Rodd, 18 Trevor Davison, 19 Ollie Chessum, 20 Sam Underhill, 21 Henry Pollock, 22 Jack Van Poortvliet, 23 Marcus Smith
Italy group
Juan Ignacio Brex returns to the midfield to proceed his union with Tommaso Menoncello.
Alessandro Garbisi begins at scrum-half to companion his brother, Paolo, in. the half-backs.
Ange Cappuozzo is out of the match-day 23 with Tommaso Allan beginning ont he bench and. Lorenzo Pani returning to fullback.
For the fourth sport in a row, Italy’s beginning pack stays the identical.
Italy: 15 Lorenzo Pani; 14 Louis Lynagh, 13 Juan Ignacio Brex, 12 Tommaso Menoncello, 11 Monty Ioane; 10 Paolo Garbisi, 9 Alessandro Garbisi; 1 Danilo Fischetti, 2 Giacomo Nicotera, 3 Simone Ferrari, 4 Niccolo Cannone, 5 Andrea Zambonin, 6 Michele Lamaro, 7 Manuel Zuliani, 8 Lorenzo Cannone.
Replacements: 16 Tommaso Di Bartolomeo, 17 Mirco Spagnolo, 18 Muhamed Hasa, 19 Federico Ruzza, 20 Riccardo Favretto, 21 Alessandro Fusco, 22 Leonardo Marin, 23 Tommaso Allan
Scotland have simply put 50 on France!
Unreal. Of course meaning nothing for our sport right here, but it surely underlines how bonkers this yr’s Six Nations has been.
Anything may occur.
Preamble
Daniel Gallan
From October 1991 till kick-off this afternoon, matches between England and Italy have been a forgone conclusion.
The two nations have met 32 occasions and England have triumphed every time. The common rating is round 40 factors to 13. There have been drubbings of 67-7 in 1999, 80-23 in 2001 and 57-14 in 2019. Things have been tighter lately, and the last match in Rome ended with a three point margin, however the story has adopted a predictable plot for 35 years.
That may change right now.
England are on the ropes after heavy losses to Scotland and Ireland. Steve Borthwick has made sweeping adjustments to his group, greater than some other England coach in Six Nations historical past. His gamers have appeared disjointed, out of kinds and wanting confidence.
Italy in the meantime have continued to impress. They fought laborious to beat Scotland in a downpour and have been the one aspect within the first three rounds to offer one thing resembling a problem to the French. They have arguably the very best centre pair within the sport, have astute operators within the halfbacks and now possess a pack that may combine it in heavy site visitors.
England ought to nonetheless win. I’d be stunned in the event that they don’t. Then once more I wouldn’t be completely shocked in the event that they fall to a 3rd loss on the bounce. Not merely due to their very own spluttering kind however as a result of their hosts have by no means been in a greater place to lastly full the set within the Six Nations.
That’s a whole lot of phrases to confess I don’t know which manner that is going. If you’ve received any clue please drop me an e mail. I’d love some assist untangling this conundrum.
Kick-off at 4:40 pm GMT, 5:40 pm in Rome.
Teams and different updates to observe.
