George Ford, Kyle Sinckler start for England vs Italy; Owen Farrell at centre for Six Nations clash
England host Italy at Twickenham in second Test of 2021 Six Nations campaign on Saturday (2.15pm kick-off); Eddie Jones recalls George Ford, Kyle Sinckler, Mako Vunipola, Courtney Lawes, Luke Cowan-Dickie; captain Owen Farrell shifts to inside-centre
By Michael Cantillon
Last Updated: 11/02/21 10:10pm
England head coach Eddie Jones has made five changes to his starting XV to face Italy in the Six Nations, the headline of which sees George Ford back at 10 and Owen Farrell moved to centre.
The other changes all come in the forward pack as the front-row is completely changed with props Mako Vunipola and Kyle Sinckler coming straight in to start after returning to the squad this week, while Exeter Chiefs hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie replaces Jamie George for his first ever Six Nations start.
The final change sees Northampton forward Courtney Lawes start at blindside flanker, with Newcastle's Mark Wilson dropped from the squad entirely.
With skipper Farrell shifted to the 12 shirt, Worcester centre Ollie Lawrence is also dropped from the squad, despite only receiving one pass in the entire 80 minutes as England lost at home to Scotland for the first time since 1983 last week.
The rest of the back-line is unchanged with a back-three of Elliot Daly, Anthony Watson and Jonny May, Henry Slade at outside-centre and Ben Youngs at scrum-half.
In the forwards, Maro Itoje and Jonny Hill start together in the second row again, while Tom Curry (openside) and Billy Vunipola (No 8) combine with Lawes in the back-row.
Last week's starters Ellis Genge and Will Stuart move to the bench as loosehead and tighthead cover respectively, as Beno Obano and Harry Williams drop out.
With Lawes' promotion into the back-row, Bath's Charlie Ewels comes onto the bench as lock cover, while there are two flankers included in Bristol's Ben Earl and Wasps' Jack Willis as Jones plumps for a six-two split of forwards to backs among the replacements.
Scrum-half Dan Robson and utility back Max Malins conclude the squad.
"As always, we've picked what we think is our strongest 23 to try and win the game," Jones said on Thursday.
"We're pleased to have Mako and Kyle back into the team and we've made some changes to our starting XV, but our finishers are just as important to our game plan. We look at the whole 80 minutes.
"We've trained very well this week, I've been very pleased with the players' attitudes and work-rate.
"We're hoping to put on a good performance on Saturday and kick on with our Guinness Six Nations campaign."
England: 15 Elliot Daly, 14 Anthony Watson, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Owen Farrell, 1 Jonny May, 10 George Ford, 9 Ben Youngs; 1 Mako Vunipola, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie 3 Kyle Sinckler, 4 Maro Itoje, 5 Jonny Hill, 6 Courtney Lawes, 7 Tom Curry, 8 Billy Vunipola.
Replacements: 16 Jamie George, 17 Ellis Genge, 18 Will Stuart, 19 Charlie Ewels, 20 Ben Earl, 21 Jack Willis, 22 Dan Robson, 23 Max Malins.
