England Drop Marcus Smith As Steve Borthwick Names Side To Face Italy

With the Six Nations heading into round for this weekend, here’s the confirmed England squad Vs Italy for Sunday’s match in Twickenham.

England boss Steve Borthwick has made some bold calls in picking his match-day squad for England’s clash with Italy.

Most notably, he has opted to drop fly-half/fullback Marcus Smith, despite the Harlequins man featuring in both recent wins against Scotland.

Marcus and namesake Fin Smith had operated successfully at fullback and fly-half, but it seems Borthwick is keen to shuffle the pack as England look for more cutting edge in attack.

Veteran utility-back Elliot Daly therefore slots into the 15 jersey, with Marcus Smith on the bench.

There’s also a change in midfield, with Henry Slade falling out of the match-day 23 entirely. He is replaced by Northampton’s Fraser Dingwall, who will earn just his third cap.

In the forwards, former skipper Jamie George returns to the starting XV in place of Luke Cowan-Dickie.

Saracens hooker George had excelled from the bench in the previous two rounds, so there was some debate as to if he would be asked again to make an impact as a replacement.

Ollie Chessum starts alongside captain Maro Itoje in the second row, with Leicester Tigers teammate George Martin ruled out for the tournament.

With no specialist locks on the bench, Steve Borthwick will be relying on Bath’s Ted Hill as cover in the engine room.

Hill, 25, has played almost exclusively in the back row for his club over the past two seasons, but can also operate as a second row.

In the back row, Tom Curry has shaken off a knock to start alongside Ben Earl and Tom Willis, with brother Ben Curry on the bench once more.

Jack van Poortvleit returns to the squad as scrum-half replacement, and will make his first appearance of the tournament if he comes on.

England Squad Vs Italy

Forwards: 1. Ellis Genge, 2. Jamie George, 3. Will Stuart, 4. Maro Itoje (c), 5. Ollie Chessum, 6. Tom Curry, 7. Ben Earl, 8. Tom Willis

Backs: 9. Alex Mitchell, 10. Fin Smith, 11. Ollie Sleightholme, 12. Fraser Dingwall, 13. Ollie Lawrence, 14. Tommy Freeman, 15. Elliot Daly

Replacements: 16. Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17. Fin Baxter, 18. Joe Heyes, 19. Ted Hill, 20. Chandler Cunningham-South, 21. Ben Curry, 22. Jack van Poortvliet, 23. Marcus Smith