Alex Mitchell is the next player to clear the danger. So far it has been all Italy.

They now win a kickable penalty as Maro Itoje is offside.

Redemption for Italy as they get over the ball and win a penalty. The ball is pumped towards the England 22.

First chance for the Italians.

Italy concede a penalty instantly and George Ford is able to clear with ease for England.

So silly.

Image source, Getty Images

We are under way!

It appears to be a nice day in Rome - perfect for running rugby.

BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

Sara Orchard and ex-England international Paul Grayson are bringing you live radio commentary of the game this afternoon!

You can tune into BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra or click the icon at the top of this page to listen to the action unfolding.

Paul Grayson
Former England fly-half on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

Five new players, who are uncapped, but they are all playing well for their club teams.

Fraser Dingwall gets a go at 12 and justifiably so as he has been outstanding for Northampton Saints - it is exciting to see some new players.

Italy

Italy head coach Gonzalo Quesada, speaking to ITV: "A bit of both, [excited and nervous] more nerves. Until the game starts you don't know what will happen and you have a lot of feelings on how the team has prepared.

"The preparation was short, but good. The intensity that the players put into learning everything we tried was interesting.

"Excited, but hopefully we have a good start and show what we have worked on."

On Italy's improvements: "The main thing was to try to leave behind the last two performances from the big defeats in the World Cup.

"The foundation was to start building confidence again off the basics of the game so we can compete for 80 minutes.

"We changed a bit of our attacking patterns without changing our identity."

Image source, Getty Images

Onto the next debutant Fraser Dingwall.

The Northampton Saints centre is into his sixth year of his Open University course in Health Science.

"I've got about five or six months left. My extended research project has just started to kick up now, so it is probably the busiest time for me to start this busiest module,” Dingwall told the Rugby Union Daily podcast.

"I had to send an email to my tutor the other day to try and say I will be as up to date as I can be, but I might be falling behind.

"I don't know if my tutor is a rugby fan but they haven’t replied yet."

Always got to think about life after rugby! Reckon he brought the books to Rome?

Listen to the full podcast here.

Image source, Getty Images

At [13:21] the question was asked - how many of the five uncapped players in England's Six Nations opener in 2012 can you name?

The answer - Phil Dowson, Brad Barritt, Owen Farrell, Geoff Parling, Ben Morgan, Lee Dickson and Jordan Turner-Hall.

Farrell scored 10 points in the 13-6 victory over Scotland at Murrayfield.

Dowson is now Northampton Saints head coach, with his number 10 Fin Smith looking to have a similar impact to Farrell on his potential debut.

Rugby is a small world.

Image source, Getty Images

Had Ethan Roots had eyes for a different girl when he was a teenager, he might have missed out on a career in rugby union.

Now, the New Zealand-born flanker, who turned to rugby union after being kicked out of his jiu-jitsu club by his coach, will start against Italy.

"I was dating his daughter and he didn't like that, so he asked me to leave and it never felt right going back for a load of personal reasons," the 26-year-old Exeter forward told BBC South West.

"My school was a rugby school, so I just fell into it naturally and didn't really look back as soon as I fell into it."

Having grown up in Auckland with an English father, Roots has not had your typical route into rugby.

He competed internationally in jiu-jitsu before his teenage love life got in the way, and balanced working on construction sites with training as he realised he was half-decent with the oval ball, first for North Harbour and then with Super Rugby side Crusaders.

Read more here.

On Monday we asked for your England XV to face Italy.

In the forwards, Ellis Genge and Ben Curry differ from Borthwick’s starting side, with Fin Smith and Immanuel Feyi-Waboso in the backs the only other changes.

Smith (42.71%) edged out Ford (40.13%) for the number 10 shirt. Captain Jamie George (92.91%) received the most votes to start, followed by Maro Itoje (78.05%) and Freddie Steward (71.41%).

Readers’ starting England XV: Steward; Freeman, Slade, Dingwall,Feyi-Waboso; Smith, Mitchell; Genge, George (capt), Stuart, Itoje, Chessum, B Curry, Underhill, Earl.

Image source, Getty Images

Perennial underdogs Italy will need to match England's physicality if they are to beat them for the first time, says Azurri scrum-half Stephen Varney.

Italy have lost all 30 previous matches against England.

"We are expecting England to fly up at us with a lot of line speed in defence, so it's important our skill set is there to get around them," said Varney.

"They have their kicking game and a strong set-piece as well."

"Our ambition is to be the best Italian team ever.

"It's a big challenge for our forward pack but if we can match them physically, our attack will come into play and we can score many tries.”

Read more here.

Image source, .

• Italy are yet to record a victory in 30 attempts against England since they first met in 1991.
• England have scored at least 30 points in each of the past 11 meetings.
• Italy have only once scored over 20 points against England in the Six Nations and that was in a 80-23 loss in 2001.

The fist coin toss for the new England captain. Italy's Michele Lamaro is the only returning captain from the 2023 Six Nations.

Image source, Getty Images

New Azzurri head coach Gonzalo Quesada has named his first side since he replaced Kieran Crowley.

Lock Federico Ruzza is set to win his 50th cap, while the Garbisi brothers - fly-half Paolo and scrum-half Alessandro - make their first start together in a Test match.

Flanker Michele Lamaro is the only captain to retain the role from last year's Six Nations while Tommaso Menoncello returns to the side at inside centre after missing the World Cup with injury.

Wing Ange Capuozzo is ill and was a late withdrawal.

Italy: Allan; Pani, Brex, Menoncello, Ioane; P Garbisi, A Garbisi; Fischetti, Lucchesi, Ceccarelli, N Cannone, Ruzza, Negri, Lamaro (capt), L Cannone.

Replacements: Nicotera, Spagnolo, Zilocchi, Zambonin, Izekor, Zuliani, Varney, Mori.

England Rugby

England head coach Steve Borthwick, speaking to ITV: "Preparation has been excellent, it is an exciting squad and we want to embark today on the next step of the journey for this England rugby team.

"We have a great blend in the team, some people who have played for England for a good number of years and there are guys just starting their journey with the England team - I am really looking forward to it.

"What is clear, we have started this tournament not how we wanted [in the past].

"There is definitely a need for a different mindset and we have addressed that.

"The aim for the players is to start the tournament by hitting the ground running."

On captain Jamie George: "Jamie has been superb. He has been a leader of this team for a number of years, whilst not captain he has been a key leader.

"We are a great diverse mix of characters and I look forward to them bringing their strengths onto the field."

Image source, Getty Images

BBC Sounds

England want to draw inspiration from the men's cricket team to "put smiles on fans' faces", says new captain Jamie George.

"I'm not saying we are going to go all out on attack," George told BBC Sport.

"But what I am saying is Ben Stokes talks a lot about expressing themselves and the fact that they are entertainers.

"Something at the forefront of our mind, especially at the minute, is how we can put smiles on people's faces, how we can bring Twickenham back to that fortress we want it to be."