England unchanged for Italy

England have stuck with the same side that defeated Wales for the match against Italy at Twickenham on Saturday.

Coach Stuart Lancaster has rewarded the players for their performance in Cardiff, where they recorded a well-deserved 21-16 win over Wales to get their campaign underway in the perfect manner.

The selection means both Saracens lock George Kruis and Bath centre Jonathan Joseph will get their first starts at the home of English Rugby, while Danny Cipriani could end a six-and-a-half-year wait for another chance to impress on English soil.

England have never lost a Test to Italy, home or away, and Lancaster will be hoping to keep that proud record intact come Saturday.

'It’s always good to be able to name an unchanged team and to build some consistency,' said Lancaster.

'We did the same last year after France heading into the Scotland game. Italy are going to be fired up. They always are when they come to Twickenham, especially after last week’s loss to Ireland.

'We know what’s coming at us but we have prepared well and are looking forward to getting back home to our fantastic supporters.'

England – 15 Mike Brown, 14 Anthony Watson, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Luther Burrell, 11 Jonny May, 10 George Ford, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Chris Robshaw (c), 6 James Haskell, 5 George Kruis, 4 Dave Attwood, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley, 1 Joe Marler.
Replacements: 16 Tom Youngs, 17 Mako Vunipola, 18 Kieran Brookes, 19 Nick Easter, 20 Tom Croft, 21 Richard Wigglesworth, 22 Danny Cipriani, 23 Billy Twelvetrees.

Six Nations teams (Round 2)

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