2021 Six Nations Championship – England vs Italy Preview & Prediction
THE FACTS
When is England vs Italy taking place? Saturday 13th February, 2021 – 14:15
Where is England vs Italy taking place? Twickenham Stadium, London
Where can I get tickets for England vs Italy? Visit this link for ticket information
What channel is England vs Italy on? ITV
Where can I stream England vs Italy? England vs Italy can be streamed via ITV Player
THE TEAM NEWS
ENGLAND
- England were stunned at Twickenham in the Calcutta Cup opener by visiting Scotland, who were excellent in a total performance to leave as 6-11 winners.
- Head coach Eddie Jones has reacted by bringing in George Ford, moving Owen Farrell across to inside centre to make room, as well as Courtney Lawes, Kyle Sinckler and Mako Vunipola.
- Luke Cowan-Dickie has been handed a start as hooker with Jamie George on the bench and Ollie Lawrence pays the price for a frustrating game against Scotland with a drop from the 23.
England: 15 Elliot Daly, 14 Anthony Watson, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Owen Farrell (c), 11 Jonny May, 10 George Ford, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Tom Curry, 6 Courtney Lawes, 5 Jonny Hill, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 1 Mako Vunipola
Replacements: 16 Jamie George, 17 Ellis Genge, 18 Will Stuart, 19 Charlie Ewels, 20 Ben Earl, 21 Jack Willis, 22 Dan Robson, 23 Max Malins
ITALY
- Italy started the 2021 Six Nations Championships off with a heavy home defeat to a ruthless French outfit, though the Azzurri grabbed a good-looking try in a 10-50 result.
- Head coach Franco Smith has been forced to shuffle his squad after Marco Zanon developed an injury against France, with centre Carlo Canna coming in to cover.
- Stephen Varney will keep his place at scrum-half after a decent performance against France on Saturday whilst Tommaso Allen returns to the squad alongside Federico Mori.
Italy: 15 Jacopo Trulla, 14 Luca Sperandio, 13 Juan Ignacio Brex, 12 Carlo Canna, 11 Montanna Ioane, 10 Paolo Garbisi, 9 Stephen Varney, 8 Michele Lamaro, 7 Johan Meyer, 6 Sebastian Negri, 5 David Sisi, 4 Marco Lazzaroni, 3 Marco Riccioni, 2 Luca Bigi, 1 Andrea Lovotti
Replacements: 16 Gianmarco Lucchesi, 17 Danilo Fischetti, 18 Giosuè Zilocchi, 19 Niccolò Cannone, 20 Federico Ruzza, 21 Guglielmo Palazzani, 22 Tommaso Allan, 23 Federico Mori
THE PREDICTION
Eddie Jones will be expecting a cricket score here as England have played themselves into an early ultimatum at this Six Nations: win the remainder of their games or lose their title. They won the 2020 Championships on points difference last October with a last-day romp against the Italians in Rome and they should fare even better in this home fixture. The lack of fans will not be a problem here in what can sometimes look a bit like target practice against this young and porous Italian side and the hosts can cover a huge -36 in victory here.
