England will look to carry the momentum they earned in their win over Scotland into Sunday’s round four Six Nations clash with Italy at Allianz Stadium at 17:00.
To Win (80 Min)
1/33 England | Draw 58/1 | Italy 11/1
Steve Borthwick’s charges’ nail-biting 16-15 victory against the Scots ended a run of four successive losses to the Celts and has provided their squad with a major boost as they head into the penultimate round of the tournament.
Lying third on 10 points, the Roses will hope to finish as strongly over the coming fortnight as possible to keep the heat on Ireland and France.
Despite some close calls over the years, England have still never lost a Test match to the Azzurri, with last year’s game seeing the visitors edge it 24-27 in Rome.
And as good as Italy were in their round two performance against Wales at the beginning of February, their latest 24-73 thumping at the hands of France would have left them low on confidence as they gear up for the first of their final two fixtures, with a daunting game against Ireland lying in wait.
The big team news for the English this week is Borthwick’s decision to move away from the Fin Smith-Marcus Smith axis at flyhalf and fullback, with the latter Smith, the side’s best player over the past year, relegated to the bench.
Elliot Daly, the man who scored the winner against the French in round two, gets the nod at No 15 instead.
Henry Slade, who looked indifferent against Scotland, has also been replaced at No 12 by Fraser Dingwall.
In tandem with Ollie Lawrence, the young Northampton Saint will certainly have his work cut out facing off against the superb Brexoncello Italy midfield pairing of Juan Ignacio Brex and Tommaso Menoncello.
England and Saracens legend Jamie George will become his nation’s seventh Test centurion when he starts in the front row, following in the footsteps of Courtney Lawes, Owen Farrell, Dan Cole, Danny Care, Ben Youngs and Jason Leonard.
It is certainly well-deserved for a player whose consistency and determination has been at the fulcrum of so much success for club and country over the years.
Verdict: England (-22.5) 9/10
Had this fixture been played at the Stadio Olimpico, there may have been cause for optimism for the Italians, but England have shown steady improvement and will be too good on Sunday.
