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Recap: England vs Italy LIVE | Summer Series

Billy Vunipola is set to be the only England player to start all four of their RWC warm-up games (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

Follow all the action from the World Cup warm-up match on the RugbyPass live blog as England host Italy at St James’ Park in Newcastle.

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Keep up to date with the latest score, stats and join the conversation from anywhere in the world in our Live Match Centre (click here).

Eddie Jones has opted for a mix-and-match selection strategy that sees Joe Marchant – someone from outside England’s World Cup 31 – named to start outside centre with Piers Francis inside him. 

Skipper Owen Farrell starts at fly-half while debutant Ruaridh McConnochie is named on the right wing with Anthony Watson at full-back.

Dan Cole starts alongside Jamie George and Joe Marler in the front row with Joe Launchbury and Courtney Lawes named at lock. Mark Wilson will start at openside flanker with Tom Curry and Billy Vunipola making up the rest of the back row.

(Continue reading below…)

Jones said: “We’re delighted to be playing against Italy, one of our traditional Six Nations rivals, and the game is another important step to develop our game fitness and game strategy. 

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“We have gone with a mix-and-match selection policy to develop our adaptability and the team’s ability to cope with any situation.

“We have had a solid training week in Treviso with hot conditions so we are looking forward to testing ourselves against Italy. Then we hop on the plane and are ready to go to Japan.”

Conor O’Shea has made 11 changes to his Italy team following last weekend’s loss to France in Paris. Full-back Jayden Hayward will link up with Mattia Bellini and Edoardo Padovani in the back three, the midfield consists of Tommaso Benvenuti and Giulio Bisegni, while at half-back there is a first Test start for Gloucester’s Callum Braley who will partner Carlo Canna. 

In the forwards, Braam Steyn keeps his place and will be joined by Jimmy Tuivaiti at No8 and Sebastian Negri. The second row is a combination of David Sisi and Dean Budd, who is skippering the team for the second time this summer after leading the charge in the August match versus Ireland. 

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The front row consists of Simone Ferrari, Oliviero Fabiani and Nicola Quaglio, while the bench has a split of six forwards and just two backs, Guglielmo Palazzani and Tommaso Allan.

“We will face one of the strongest teams in the world in a match that represents a new step in our preparation towards the World Cup,” said O’Shea after announcing his side.

WATCH: The RugbyPass guide to Sapporo, the city where England will kick off their World Cup campaign against Tonga on September 22 

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J
JW 25 minutes ago
Andy Goode: Aussie comments didn't cover them in glory

Yes I was happy with the refs ruling of arrival (and that the tackled player wasn’t obligated to release the ball immediately) but if you see the wide angle you can note how Morgan dives to get there in time.


I don’t mind your (or the refs) view, but what Morgan said is accurate. Both Mils and Beaver agreed on the breakdown, and you will also get the same view from Aotearoa Rugby Pod guys for a pretty unanimous NZ view.

Sometimes when both players are low its a rugby collision and this is one of those times.

Not recently. In the SR finals and AB v Arg series weve seen players clearly bent 90 at the waist still be penalised, only when the attacker does something the ref sees immediate mitigation and rules a rugby incident. Tizzano didn’t offer that he was always in the position Morgan aimed to collect him in.


Happy to not throw the rule book at these situations but the precent is that they are in these situations.

many tries out wide the player is allowed to be tackled while diving

They are diving for the line, not to avoid being tackled.

“In principle, in a try scoring situation, if the action is deemed to be a dive forward for a try, then it should be permitted. If a player is deemed to have left the ground to avoid a tackle; or to jump, or hurdle a potential tackler, then this is dangerous play and should be sanctioned accordingly.”

You can read Nicks article for an updated discourse on this though.

30 Go to comments
J
JW 1 hour ago
New Zealanders may not understand, but in France Test rugby is the 'B movie'

But he was wrong, he had to take back what he said. But maybe this only happened because he came out and was honest with his initial plans?


He’s simply in a position where he should be far more professional.


I don’t really follow much media, especially SM, but again, I’ve not seen anyone complaining. Plenty of ridicule and pointing out things like it being disrespectful to the game, but as far as the English language goes, that’s not complaining. Nick Bishop for instance hasn’t been complaining, he’s simply saying Galthie made a bad decision for France’s prospects (which when the common reply is ‘thats how it is’).


Complaining would be views expressing that the FFR should have put the tour back a week so that all T14 finalists could attend. Complaining would be saying they’ve been robbed of seeing the worlds best stars. Complaining would be saying players can simply take extra weeks off from T14. I’ve only seen advice and suggestions that these are things France need to look-at-for-the-future.


Basically I tried to communicate with French fans because they don’t understand what’s being communicated. ALL reactions I have seen shared here by French supports have all seemed way over the top compared what I’ve seen expressed about this tour.

the players are expected to play in too many matches, for too many minutes, and need more rest and recovery time.

This is the message I have been sharing. So something needs to happen, whether thats France pull out of more Internationals or rest players from more domestic games, who knows, but I also don’t think what they have now is working. It’s obviously much better than 3-4 years ago, but they appear to want to work even harder at it like you say. Personally I’ve only seen LNR be reasonable, I hear much less of their other internationals being denied/influenced not to play, so I imagine that they will give even further (as I can’t really see France pulling out the other international windows as well).

147 Go to comments
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