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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
Think it was a great defensive performance by Northampton. They didn't have stage fright in the first half, the Nienaber defense smothered them. They limited Leinster to 15-3 in the first half. It could have been over by then. A great try from Leinster in the start of the second half looked to have sealed it. But Byrne missed another conversion. Northampton started trying little kicks behind the Leinster wingers. Leinster messed one and Smith brilliantly made the conversion. Leinster decided to tighten the game after Byrne missed a straight forward penalty. A few errors got NH into the 22 and they scored and converted with a few minutes left. Another brilliant steal from Lawes saw NH have a final attack which was turned over by Conan. A classic semi final. World record attendance of 82,300. Leinsters 3 week preparation warranted for this one.
Go to commentsJust came back from the game and the atmosphere was amazing. Players stayed afterwards for more than a hour to sign stuff and take photos with fans. Great day out.
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