Sarah Hunter confident England Women can put in an improved display against Italy

England had opened up their Six Nations defence with a thumping win over Scotland - however they have since suffered subsequent losses to Ireland and France.

It has been learning curve for the England squad, though, with a number of their key players unavailable due to their Sevens commitments.

And Hunter is confident the side can put in an improved display against Italy.

Positives

"There were certainly some positives to take from our defeat against France and it was an improved performance from our loss against Ireland, " said Hunter.

"What we need to do now is focus on those positives, learn from our mistakes and ensure that we bring them to the park on Saturday and put on a big performance.

"The team were extremely disappointed to lose to France. It's never easy losing at the best of times but to do so knowing that we hadn't played to the best of our ability hurt even more. And to rub salt into the wound, it was also the first game we have lost at Twickenham.

"We are a good team - we just need to play to our strengths and cut out the errors. We need to play with confidence and have the belief in ourselves as a team and as individuals."

England: 15 Lauren Cattell (Saracens), 14 Lydia Thompson (Worcester), 13 Abigail Chamberlain (Richmond), 12 Amber Reed (Bristol), 11 Sally Tuson (Bristol), 10 Ceri Large (Worcester), 9 Georgina Gulliver (Lichfield), 1 Roz Crowley (Lichfield), 2 Victoria Fleetwood (Lichfield), 3 Laura Keates (Worcester), 4 Joanna McGilchrist (Wasps), 5 Emily Braund (Lichfield), 6 Sarah Hunter (Lichfield), 7 Hannah Gallagher (Saracens), 8 Harriet Millar-Mills (Lichfield).
Replacements: 16 Emma Croker (Richmond), 17 Kate Newton (Bristol), 18 Sophie Hemming (Bristol), 19 Rowena Burnfield (Richmond), 20 Rebecca Essex (Richmond), 21 Fiona Davidson (Richmond), 22 La Toya Mason (Wasps), 23 Emily Scott (Thurrock)