Italy vs England Six Nations: Essential Viewing Guide and Team Updates
England aim to arrest their recent Six Nations decline as they face an Italian side hungry for a historic first victory over their opponents. Back-to-back defeats have cast a shadow over Steve Borthwick's squad, with the optimism from a 12-match winning streak now seeming a distant memory.
England must also be cautious of a resurgent Italian team that has already defeated Scotland and pushed Ireland to the limit in this year's tournament. Could the Stadio Olimpico witness a monumental upset, with this England team etching their names into the history books for all the wrong reasons?
Match Details and Broadcasting Information
When is Italy vs England? The Six Nations fixture is scheduled to kick off at 4.40pm GMT on Saturday, 7 March, at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.
How can I watch it? Viewers in the United Kingdom can catch the match live on ITV1, with coverage beginning at 3.35pm GMT. A live stream will be accessible via the ITVX platform.
Team News and Line-ups
Italy welcome back Juan Ignacio Brex to reform their formidable centre partnership with the powerful Tommaso Menoncello, after Brex missed the previous two matches due to personal reasons. Alessandro Garbisi joins his brother Paolo in the half-back positions, while Lorenzo Pani steps in at full-back for the injured Ange Capuozzo. The pack remains unchanged from the starting eight that faced France two weeks ago. Fly-half and full-back Tommaso Allan has recovered from injury and is among three backs named on the bench.
England coach Steve Borthwick has overhauled his selection in a bid to respond to the team's disappointing performance against Ireland. Fin Smith is installed at fly-half in a completely revamped backline, with Tommy Freeman moving into midfield alongside Seb Atkinson, who makes his Six Nations debut. In the forwards, Jamie George replaces Luke Cowan-Dickie at hooker, and Alex Coles is preferred to Ollie Chessum in the second row. The return of Guy Pepper to the blindside flank sees Tom Curry and Ben Earl shift to the openside and number eight positions respectively.
Confirmed Starting Line-ups
Italy XV: 1 Danilo Fischetti, 2 Giacomo Nicotera, 3 Simone Ferrari; 4 Niccolo Cannone, 5 Andrea Zambonin; 6 Michele Lamaro (capt.), 7 Manuel Zuliani, 8 Lorenzo Cannone; 9 Alessandro Garbisi, 10 Paolo Garbisi; 11 Monty Ioane, 12 Tommaso Menoncello, 13 Juan Ignacio Brex, 14 Louis Lynagh; 15 Lorenzo Pani.
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.
England XV: 1 Ellis Genge, 2 Jamie George, 3 Joe Heyes; 4 Maro Itoje (capt.), 5 Alex Coles; 6 Guy Pepper, 7 Tom Curry, 8 Ben Earl; 9 Ben Spencer, 10 Fin Smith; 11 Cadan Murley, 12 Seb Atkinson, 13 Tommy Freeman, 14 Tom Roebuck; 15 Elliot Daly.
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.
