01 February 2024 , 14:06
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George Ford will start ay fly-half for England when they head to Italy to begin their Six Nations.
Head coach Steve Borthwick had been sweating on the fitness of his fly-halves with Marcus Smith ruled out during the week. It meant Northampton Saints' Fin Smith was potentially set for his debut, but he will begin on the bench with Ford to start at 10 as the team begins its post-Owen Farrell era.
England have handed debuts to Fraser Dingwall, who will start at outside centre, and back rower Ethan Roots. Highly-rated winger Immanuel Feyi-Waboso of Exeter Chief is poised to make his first appearance off the bench. Alex Mitchell has got the nod at scrum-half despite an injury concern with Ben Spencer on the bench.
New captain Jamie George will lead a pack that sees Joe Marler and Will Stuart begin in the front row. Ben Earl, one of the team's outstanding performers at the World Cup, begins at Numer 8 with Beth's Sam Underhill also joining him in the back row.
England are looking for a notable improvement of their recent showings in the Six Nations, which has seen them consistently underwhelm since last winning it in 2020. Borthwick's side have never lost to Italy and will be looking to preserve that record in Rome this weekend.
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Italy are one of three away games for England in this season's Six Nations, but their opening two fixtures are against the Azzurri and Wales at Twickenham with Borthwick's side tipped to win both, which should give them momentum ahead of more challenging games.
England team to face Italy
15 Freddie Steward, 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Fraser Dingwall, 11 Elliot Daly, 10 George Ford, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Ben Earl, 7 Sam Underhill, 6 Ethan Roots, 5 Ollie Chessum, 4 Maro Itoje , 3 Will Stuart, 2 Jamie George (c), 1 Joe Marler
Replacements: 16 Theo Dann, 17 Ellis Genge, 18 Dan Cole, 19 Alex Coles, 20 Chandler Cunningham-South, 21 Danny Care, 22 Fin Smith, 23 Immanuel Feyi-Waboso