Te'o handed first England start, bench role for Vunipola
Ben Te'o will make his first England start and Mako Vunipola has been named among the replacements for the Six Nations clash with Italy at Twickenham on Sunday.
Eddie Jones has made four changes to the side which started the dramatic victory over Wales in Cardiff, with centre Te'o coming in after Jonathan Joseph was left out of the squad.
Scrum-half Danny Care, flanker James Haskell and wing Jonny May are also promoted from the bench in place of Ben Youngs, Jack Clifford and Jack Nowell.
Youngs, Clifford and Nowell are joined among the replacements by prop Vunipola, who made his comeback from a knee injury for Saracens last week.
England head coach Jones said: "We have had a good two-week preparation for Italy and we're ready to go,
"We trained very well in the city last week and this week the training has been very impressive. The boys are really on song, we have had great competition for places, and we've picked a very strong 23 to play against Italy."
BREAKING | Your England team to face Italy in the RBS 6 Nations on Sunday
Full preview: https://t.co/tcbI93zutm#ENGvITA #CarryThemHome pic.twitter.com/X6DBSJpZXr
— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) February 24, 2017
England: Mike Brown, Jonny May, Ben Te'o, Owen Farrell, Elliot Daly, George Ford, Danny Care; Joe Marler, Dylan Hartley (captain), Dan Cole, Joe Launchbury, Courtney Lawes, Maro Itoje, James Haskell, Nathan Hughes.
Replacements: Jamie George, Mako Vunipola, Kyle Sinckler, Tom Wood, Jack Clifford, Ben Youngs, Henry Slade, Jack Nowell.
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Yeah they could have done with more grunt against France for sure. The opportunity for Lakai was good, and he was affective for 40 minutes but a full 80 was far too much to put on a debutant, losing a bit of the punch that was needed in the game be himself coming on fresh at the end.
Go to commentsMy Christmas wish is for more balanced rugby “journalism” from this site, and less fan baiting for clicks.
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