England v Italy: Five talking points ahead of the Azzurri's Twickenham trip
By Keith Moore
Last Updated: 26/02/17 11:47am
Italy arrive in the English capital in desperate need of a victory to ease criticism of their unchallenged inclusion in the Six Nations.
Heavy losses in the first two rounds have done nothing to silence calls for a promotion-relegation system in the Six Nations, and their task gets no easier this week as they battle an English side hungry for success.
Can Italy put in a performance to restore some pride in their campaign, or will they be blown away by England? We look at five talking points ahead of Sunday's kick-off.
Fifty for Farrell
Former coach Stuart Lancaster's first game in charge of England was a 13-6 win over Scotland on February 4, 2012. Playing in the No 12 jersey that day was 20-year-old debutant Owen Farrell, with Charlie Hodgson picked at fly-half.
Farrell was put on kicking duty in Edinburgh, scoring eight points to start an account that currently sits at 562, with Jonny Wilkinson the only player to score more points for England.
At 25 Farrell likely has a long future ahead of him in the game, and Eddie Jones has tipped the Saracens man to get even better with age.
"I know the Twickenham crowd will give Owen Farrell a big cheer," said Jones.
"To reach 50 caps at such a young age is a fine achievement. The one thing I know about Owen is that his next 50 are going to be more impressive than his first."
England defence coach Paul Gustard first came across Farrell as a teenager at the Saracens academy, and says the playmaker is well suited to the pressure of top-flight rugby.
"Owen thrives in this environment," Gustard said. "He demands excellence from those around him and his ability to drive himself and his insatiable appetite to get better is incredible.
"The effort he puts into planning, preparation and performance is huge and he is so demanding of others to make sure he gets what he needs and the team needs."
Midfield options
Jones has opted to hand a start to Warriors' Ben Te'o for the first time in the midfielder's five-Test career.
The Worcester flyer came off the bench to score the winning try in England's victory over France, and was in the top five England players for metres made against Wales a week later, despite only playing 16 minutes of the game in Cardiff.
With Elliot Daly putting in impressive performance on the wing for England, there have been calls from some corners to include the Wasps utility back in the midfield alongside Te'o, with Farrell potentially moving to fly-half.
However, there is one significant former player who says Daly should remain on the wing - Wales legend Shane Williams believes the 24-year-old is putting himself into the thoughts of Warren Gatland.
"Daly is playing with form, confidence and in a very good England side," Williams said.
"If I had to pick a back three [for the Lions] it would be Stuart Hogg at 15, Liam Williams and Daly on current form."
Inside track?
Italy's coaches all have previous affiliations with English rugby. Head coach Conor O'Shea spent six years as director of rugby at Harlequins, while Brendan Venter led Saracens to their first Premiership title in 2012.
Mike Catt was skills coach during the England regime of Stuart Lancaster - a post he filled as recently as 2015 - leaving the job at the conclusion of the World Cup.
However, Paul Gustard says Eddie Jones' Grand Slam champions are a new team, and believes the Azzurri coaching staff will not benefit from their experience working with the England players.
"They know our players, but there is so much analysis and video footage available these days anyway," Gustard said. "Brendan left some time ago and time moves on. The players involved here are different.
"Mike was with England but we play and train a different way. There is enough variability there for change."
Playing for pride?
Italy currently sit bottom of the Six Nations table after defeats in their opening two matches to Wales and Ireland, with a points difference of -79.
The Azzurri conceded nine tries in their 63-10 defeat to Ireland at the Stadio Olimpico two weeks ago, prompting renewed criticism of their automatic inclusion in the Six Nations.
Writing in the Daily Mail, Sir Clive Woodward said: "The organisers have let Italy and the competition down badly by not introducing relegation play-offs long ago.
"As fully paid-up members of the cosy Six Nations club, Italian rugby has become soft and complacent, the hunger and ambition that drove them on for years has vanished. Tough love is what Italy need now."
Conor O'Shea shared an interesting analogy last week when describing the task of coaching Italy.
"It's like an alcoholic. The first thing he has to do is say, 'I have a problem.' We have to acknowledge it," he told The Times.
"Of course there is a lot to change, but any Tom, Dick and Harry can come in here and tell us what we need to do."
Eddie Jones was quick to point out the enormity of O'Shea's task when interviewed this week.
"All coaching jobs are tough but Italy is a particularly tough job," said Jones. "They're in the Six Nations which is enormously high quality, they've got a small player base and they don't have a great tradition of producing consistent teams."
Bench pressure
Danny Care is one of four changes to Jones' starting line-up, replacing Ben Youngs in the No 9 jersey. It's Care's first start for England since March 2016, but the Harlequins scrum-half says he harbours no resentment for the lack of opportunities.
"It's one of those things," said Care. "Ben's played really well. I'm old enough and experienced enough now to know that if someone's playing well you can't expect to start.
"It's up to me to push him as much as I can and also push the coaches to make a decision at some point."
It's not only half-back where there is pressure on the current starting players. Ben Te'o's inclusion in the midfield is another example of the jostling for jerseys, as is Jonny May nudging Jack Nowell onto the bench.
In the front row, Mako Vunipola is back from injury, which will keep Joe Marler honest, while there is a growing voice for Jamie George to start ahead of captain Dylan Hartley.
Jones has created a winning culture in the camp, which in turn has promoted the right kind of selection headaches for the Australian.
England: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Jonny May, 13 Ben Te'o, 12 Owen Farrell, 11 Elliot Daly, 10 George Ford, 9 Danny Care; 1 Joe Marler, 2 Dylan Hartley (c), 3 Dan Cole, 4 Joe Launchbury, 5 Courtney Lawes, 6 Maro Itoje, 7 James Haskell, 8 Nathan Hughes.
Replacements: 16 Jamie George, 17 Mako Vunipola, 18 Kyle Sinckler, 19 Tom Wood, 20 Jack Clifford, 21 Ben Youngs, 22 Henry Slade, 23 Jack Nowell.
Italy: 15 Edoardo Padovani, 14 Giulio Bisegni, 13 Michele Campagnaro, 12 Luke McLean, 11 Giovanbattista Venditti, 10 Tommaso Allan, 9 Edoardo Gori, 1 Andrea Lovotti, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 4 Marco Fuser; 5 Andries Van Schalkwyk, 6 Abraham Steyn, 7 Simone Favaro, 8 Sergio Parisse (c).
Replacements: 16 Ornel Gega, 17 Michele Rizzo, 18 Pietro Ceccarelli, 19 George Biagi, 20 Maxime Mbanda, 21 Giorgio Bronzini, 22 Carlo Canna, 23 Tommaso Benvenuti.
