Eddie Jones makes six changes to his starting XV ahead of the trip to Italy, as Alex Dombrandt and Harry Randall come into the side. The team is “the best 23 to play the game against Italy,” said Jones.
Harry Randall replaces Ben Youngs at scrum-half for just his third cap. The Bristol Bears scrum-half missed the autumn international through injury when he looked set to play an important role.
On Randall, Jones said: “We’ve been really pleased with Harry Randall. He’s a livewire halfback. He’s very good in broken play, has a good solid pass and his kicking game is improving.”
Randall praised fellow scrum-half Ben Youngs for helping him in camp. If Youngs gets on the pitch in Rome, he will equal Jason Leonard as England’s all-time cap holder on 114 caps.
Randall was full of praise for Youngs, saying: “Since being in camp, Ben has been a massive help. To have someone of that experience to sit down and help me go through my game has been a massive help. I can’t thank him enough.”
Supporters and writers alike are excited about the prospect of an 8-10 axis of Alex Dombrandt at 8, Harry Randall at 9 with Marcus Smith at 10, with many seeing that as a particular area of strength for England moving forward.
Eddie Jones has spoken of a desire to ‘light up Rome’ with free flowing rugby. Randall continued the party-line, saying: “Our goal is to light up Rome and put in a good performance.”
Bath‘s Charlie Ewels is one of the six new faces brought in following Saturday’s defeat at Murrayfield to Scotland. Ewels was full of praise for the entire England squad in preparing for a test match.
He said: “In my time in this team its always been said it’s a 23-man effort. But in this place, its genuinely a 30-man effort.”
Ewels’ England career has largely been spent as a squad player, knowing too well the importance of squad players in preparation for a big test match.
He said: “There’s guys that go home. Our biggest day when preparing for a Test match on a Sunday is a Wednesday (usually a Tuesday for a Saturday fixture) and unfortunately there’s guys who don’t get to put on the shirt this weekend that did a lot to help prepare the team.
“I’m one of the lucky ones. Its always that 30-man effort to prepare for a test match.”
Last time out, Luke Cowan-Dickie’s conceded penalty and subsequent sin bin and penalty try swung the game in the Scots favour.
Cowan-Dickie moves to the bench this weekend as has not trained until today (Thursday) due to fatigue, with Jones eager to stress that the move was due to fatigue rather than his decisive action on Saturday.
Eddie Jones has further opted for a re-shuffle at the back of the scrum. Alex Dombrandt replaces Sam Simmonds at Number 8. Jones said: “Against Italy, they tend to be more open and unstructured type games so a great game for him (Dombrandt) to start at 8.”
Nick Cain said on this week’s The Rugby Paper Podcast that Dombrandt had to play at Number 8 if he as selected in the team, saying “Dombrandt is a specialist when at number 8.”
Jones has moved Maro Itoje to 6, saying: “We want to get a bit more running out of Maro in terms of his attack and this is a great opportunity for him.”
Henry Slade keeps his place at 12, with Jones keen for people to ignore the number on his back. He outlined that he felt that England had one classical big inside-centre in Manu Tuilagi, who has only recently returned to competitive action with Sale.
Harlequins and Italy back Tommaso Allan played against Tuilagi on Sunday, when he came off the bench for Sale v Harlequins. Allan said: “He has an X Factor. He’s a big ball carrier which England need.”
Tuilagi may come into the squad for the home game vs Wales in two weeks time, with the RFU and Sale in constant dialogue over his workload and training.
The one personnel change in the backs is Jack Nowell replacing Elliot Daly. Daly started at 13 against Scotland, but struggled to have a big impact on the game. Nowell’s inclusion means that Joe Marchant will move to outside centre, instead of playing on the wing. On Nowell, Jones outlined: “I haven’t seen him this sharp since 2016.”
Uncapped Ollie Chessum will be one of England’s finishers on Sunday. On the 21-year-old Leicester lock or back row player, Jones said: “He’s a workhorse. He’s a traditional 6/4 hard worker who likes doing the tough stuff.”
ENGLAND XV V ITALY (Players in bold are changes from Scotland match)
15. Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers, 6 caps)
14. Max Malins (Saracens, 11 caps)
13. Joe Marchant (Harlequins, 8 caps)
12. Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs, 44 caps) (VC)
11. Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs, 35 caps)
10. Marcus Smith (Harlequins, 6 caps)
9. Harry Randall (Bristol Bears, 2 caps)
1. Ellis Genge (Leicester Tigers, 32 caps) (VC)
2. Jamie George (Saracens, 62 caps)
3. Will Stuart (Bath Rugby, 16 caps)
4. Charlie Ewels (Bath Rugby, 27 caps)
5. Nick Isiekwe (Saracens, 4 caps)
6. Maro Itoje (Saracens, 52 caps)
7. Tom Curry (Sale Sharks, 37 caps) (C)
8. Alex Dombrandt (Harlequins, 5 caps)
FINISHERS
- Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs, 32 caps) (VC)
- Joe Marler (Harlequins, 75 caps)
- Kyle Sinckler (Bristol Bears, 48 caps)
- Ollie Chessum (Leicester Tigers, uncapped)
- Sam Simmonds (Exeter Chiefs, 10 caps)
- Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers, 113 caps)
- George Ford (Leicester Tigers, 78 caps)
- Elliot Daly (Saracens, 53 caps)
The game kicks off at 15:00 on Sunday and will be shown on ITV.
Did you know The Rugby Paper has a podcast? This week, Italy and Harlequins back Tommaso Allan joins Nick Cain and Brendan Gallagher to discuss the second round of Six Nations fixtures.
Listen to Episode Two of The Rugby Paper Podcast here
