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England v Italy: Everything you need to know
By Harry West
England will start as strong favourites to continue their winning run and a charge towards a second successive Six Nations grand slam when they host Italy on Sunday.
Eddie Jones' side come into the clash at Twickenham on a run of 16 consecutive wins - although the first of those was earned under predecessor Stuart Lancaster.
And their head-to-head record with the Azzurri points towards a home victory - England have triumphed in all 22 of their meetings with Italy.
Jones makes four changes from the narrow win over Wales in Cardiff a fortnight ago, including Ben Te'o gaining his first start at centre in place of Jonathan Joseph - who scored a hat-trick the last time these two sides met.
Italy have lost heavily at home to Wales and Ireland in their opening two fixtures, leading some to question the wisdom of their continued participation in the competition.
Like opposite number Jones, head coach Conor O'Shea has also made four changes as the Azzurri look to upset the odds and avoid a 10th straight Six Nations defeat.
HEAD TO HEAD
England: 22
Italy: 0
Draw: 0
WHAT HAPPENED IN 2016">
COACH COMMENTS
Eddie Jones (England): "There was never any doubt Dylan [Hartley] was going to be captain and never any doubt he was going to start. Obviously Jamie [George] is disappointed, because he wants the spot. And at some stage he will get it. Dylan can't play until he's 50."
Conor O'Shea (Italy): "We're going into our Colosseum this weekend. Everybody is having a pop. People look for cheap and easy headlines. I would question whether some actually believe it but the world in which we live has no grey areas, only black and white. We know that."
OPTA STATS
- England have conceded an average of just three first half points across their last seven home games against Italy.
- England are looking for a 10th consecutive Six Nations win, which would equal the tournament record set by them twice before (1882 to 1886 and 1922 to 1925).
- Italy have lost 40 of their 43 previous away games in the Six Nations (W2, D1), with those two wins both coming at Murrayfield (draw v Wales in 2006).
- England are only two shy of becoming the first team to score 250 Six Nations tries, while their five tries per game against Italy are their most against any Six Nations opponent.
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Latest Comments
If he's back to his best Tom Hooper could also play that 6 role with Skelton at 5. He has the lineout range.
Go to commentsWe wouldn’t stomach a loss by sending a ‘B’ team. Not in a million years.
We’d get awfully Old Testament on the scoundrel responsible for that.
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