England v Italy match preview, coverage & key stats

Guinness Men's Six Nations: England v Italy

Venue: Allianz Arena, Twickenham Date: Sunday, 9 March Kick-off: 15:00 GMT

Coverage: Listen to match commentary on BBC Sport website and app; live text commentary and highlights online; watch on ITV1

Overview

England will seek to maintain their hopes of a first Six Nations title since 2020 by beating Italy at Allianz Stadium on Sunday.

Steve Borthwick's side will also be looking to put in a convincing attacking performance after their kick-heavy approach in the narrow win over Scotland in round three attracted criticism.

England have scored at least four tries in 10 of the 12 Six Nations meetings against Italy at Twickenham and another bonus-point win would move them into second in the standings behind title favourites France heading into the final round.

A defeat without a bonus point would end England's title ambitions before they head to Cardiff to face Wales on the final day.

Italy will be smarting following a heavy home defeat by France two weeks ago, but the visitors will take confidence from a close contest the last time they faced England in Rome in 2024.

The Azzurri led at half-time and went on to lose by just three points, their narrowest margin of defeat in this particular Six Nations fixture.

England team news

England make three changes from the narrow win against Scotland, with Marcus Smith dropped form the starting XV.

He is replaced at full-back by Elliot Daly, who makes a first Test start at 15 in four years.

Jamie George will become the seventh England men's player to reach 100 caps – he starts at hooker after two appearances off the bench, swapping with Luke Cowan-Dickie.

Centre Fraser Dingwall makes just a third Test start, and first in more than a year, in place of Henry Slade, who has reportedly been unable to train fully this week.

Scrum-half Jack van Poortvliet is preferred to Harry Randall among the replacements.

England: 15-Daly, 14-Freeman, 13-Lawrence, 12-Dingwall, 11-Sleightholme; 10-F Smith, 9-Mitchell; 1-Genge, 2-George, 3-Stuart, 4-Itoje (capt), 5-Chessum, 6-T Curry, 7-Earl, 8-T Willis.

Replacements: 16-Cowan-Dickie, 17-Baxter, 18-Heyes, 19-T Hill, 20-Cunningham-South, 21-B Curry, 22-Van Poortvliet, 23-M Smith

Italy team news

Italy make six changes following the heavy defeat by France.

London-born winger Matt Gallagher, who qualifies through his mother, makes his Six Nations debut in place of Simone Gesi.

Monty Ioane returns after missing out against Les Bleus because of injury, meaning Ange Capuozzo moves to full-back and Tommasso Allan drops to the bench.

Stephen Varney is preferred at scrum-half to Martin Page-Relo, while there are three further changes in the pack with Giacomo Nicotera, Marco Riccioni and Ross Vintcent all coming in.

Italy: 15-Capuozzo, 14-Ioane, 13-Brex, 12-Menoncello, 11-Gallagher, 10-P Garbisi, 9-Varney; 1-Fischetti, 2-Nicotera, 3-Riccioni, 4-N Cannone, 5-Ruzza, 6-Negri, 7-Lamaro (capt) 8-Vintcent

Replacements: 16-Lucchesi, 17-Spagnolo, 18-Ferrari, 19-Favretto, 20-Zuliani, 21-L Cannone, 22-Page-Relo, 23-Allan

View from both camps

Steve Borthwick: "We've got a lot of talented players, a lot of talented backs with attacking ability.

"I think Marcus has done some really outstanding things. He has the ability to find space that other players can't.

"The exciting thing I'm looking forward to is unleashing him when there's a bit of fatigue on the pitch, there's a bit of space, and he comes on with his freshness."

Gonzalo Quesada: "We will have to assess whether it (France defeat) was an accident for a team that has been together for just over a year, and whether we will be able to resume a linear path and show who we really are."

Commentator's notes

Alastair Eykyn: "Last year was tight in Rome, but England have never lost to Italy – and Steve Borthwick's men need a hefty win to stay in the Six Nations title conversation.

"It will rightly be a celebratory day for the new Test centurion Jamie George, who is such a superb ambassador for the sport, while Fraser Dingwall's inclusion brings the number of Northampton Saints in the backline to five.

"The Italians can't possibly be as poor as their meek display against France a fortnight ago. Coach Gonzalo Quesada has made six changes to his starting 15 in a bid to change the narrative."

Match facts

Head-to-head

• England have won all 31 Tests against Italy by an aggregate score of 1,224 points to 380.

• England are the only Six Nations side yet to lose to Italy. They have won all 25 meetings in this championship and are also the only nation to hold a 100% win rate against another team in this tournament.

• Italy's 27-24 defeat in Rome last year was their narrowest margin of defeat in this Six Nations fixture. The average margin of defeat across their 10 previous clashes was 30 points.

• In the 12 previous championship meetings at Twickenham, England have failed to score four tries just twice - they did not score a try during an 18-11 win in 2013 and scored only one in a 20-7 victory in 2007.

England

• England are on a four-game winning streak at home in the Six Nations, their longest run since they registered 15 victories in a row between 2012 and 2018.

• England's last 15 matches versus Tier 1 opposition have been decided by an average of three points – with five of those Tests settled by just one point.

• They have won back-to-back Tests by just a single point for the first time since 1937.

• England rank first for most kicks in play in this Six Nations with 120 but only Scotland have a lower kick retention rate than England's 10%.

• They are top for gain-line success (63%), tackle evasion (26%) and dominant carries (38%).

Italy

• Italy's 73-24 defeat against France in round three was the second-highest points total they have ever conceded in the Six Nations, after an 80-23 loss at Twickenham in 2001.

• The losing margin of 49 points versus France was Italy's fifth-heaviest in 25 years of this tournament.

• The Azzurri have lost two of their past six championship matches, winning three and drawing the other against France last year.

• Italy have made the fewest in-contact metres of any nation in this tournament (327).

• They have made 53 dominant tackles, at least eight more than any other side.