England vs Italy LIVE rugby: Six Nations 2023 result and reaction to first win of Steve Borthwick era
Steve Borthwick’s side outclassed the Azzurri to earn their first win of the new era at Twickenham
England delivered a performance of ruthless efficiency and forward power to overwhelm Italy 31-14 on Sunday for a five-try bonus-point victory that got their Six Nations campaign back on track after last week’s defeat by Scotland.
The hosts might not have matched the sparkling rugby seen in Saturday’s two matches but Italy could not live with their pack strength, particularly a seemingly unstoppable rolling maul, following coach Steve Borthwick’s promise to get back to basics.
Having won only one of their last six games at Twickenham, the home fans were not about to start complaining about style, though Borthwick’s decision to mix up his midfield looked a good one as man of the match Ollie Lawrence brought much-needed pace and intensity to the inside centre channel.
First-half tries for Jack Willis, Ollie Chessum and Jamie George put England 19-0 up at halftime. A penalty try earned the bonus point and though Italy crossed twice in a more evenly-balanced second half, England finished strongly with a crowd-pleasing finish by exciting replacement winger Henry Arundell.
Their 30th win in 30 meetings with Italy continued England’s stranglehold on the fixture and maintained their position as the only team never to have lost to the Italians since they joined the competition in 2000.
Steve Borthwick outlines England’s problems after Scotland defeat
“We know we’ve got a lot of work to do. I’ve been frank from day one in saying there’s a lot of work to do,” said Borthwick ahead of the Italy match. “When I looked at the team in the autumn, when I measured the team and got all the data for the team, we weren’t good at anything. It was as frank as that.
“So we are trying to build some strengths in this team and some bits we are pleased about and some bits we are disappointed about. My job is to make sure we get some improvements for Italy.
“There are multiple areas we have tried to change. You saw some improvement in the scrum against Scotland which I was pleased about because it has been ranked as the worst scrum in tier one rugby.
“We saw some improvements in the attack and speed of ball and we tried to improve the breakdown where England were ranked the ninth quickest, so one of the slowest in tier one.
“I’d seen a habit within the team of conceding points early and not being able to respond to it. We conceded points against Scotland and the biggest thing I was looking at was the response. I thought the response was magnificent.
“We saw improvement against Scotland in a lot of areas. Some areas didn’t go so well and we need to make sure we get those addressed. Some take longer than others.
“We are trying to rebuild the set-piece here. That takes time. You saw some improvement in our attack.
“In terms of the way we hit in defence, there were improvements there but there were a couple of tries which Scotland took brilliantly, which is immense credit to them.
“I feel disappointed with the result. I asked the players to do some things differently. I have asked the players to play a new way.
“I have got to get the players to believe in themselves and get the players to bring their strengths to the pitch.
“I want them to play to the best of themselves, which we haven’t seen them do for a while. I think you saw an improvement in that regard against Scotland.”
England vs Italy: Confirmed line-ups
England XV: 15. Freddie Steward; 14. Max Malins, 13. Henry Slade, 12. Ollie Lawrence, 11. Ollie Hassell-Collins; 10. Owen Farrell (capt), 9. Jack van Poortvliet; 1. Ellis Genge, 2. Jamie George, 3. Kyle Sinckler; 4. Maro Itoje, 5. Ollie Chessum; 6. Lewis Ludlam, 7. Jack Willis, 8. Alex Dombrandt
Replacements: 16. Jack Walker, 17. Mako Vunipola, 18. Dan Cole, 19. Nick Isiekwe, 20. Ben Earl, 21. Alex Mitchell, 22. Marcus Smith, 23. Henry Arundell
Italy XV: 15. Ange Capuozzo; 14. Edoardo Padovani, 13. Juan Ignacio Brex, 12. Luca Morisi, 11. Tommaso Menoncello; 10. Tommaso Allan, 9. Stephen Varney; 1. Danilo Fischetti, 2. Giacomo Nicotera, 3. Marco Riccioni; 4. Niccolo Cannone, 5. Federico Ruzza; 6. Sebastian Negri, 7. Michele Lamaro (capt), 8. Lorenzo Cannone
Replacements: 16. Luca Bigi, 17. Federico Zani, 18. Simone Ferrari, 19. Edoardo Iachizzi, 20. Jake Polledri, 21. Manuel Zuliani, 22. Alessandro Fusco, 23. Pierre Bruno
When is England vs Italy?
The match will kick off at 3pm GMT on Sunday 12 February.
What TV channel is it on and will there be a live stream?
It will be shown live on ITV 1, as well as online on the ITV X platform.
England vs Italy line-ups: Team news ahead of Six Nations fixture
England look to get their Six Nations campaign back on track with Italy their opponents at Twickenham.
Steve Borthwick’s first game as head coach ended in defeat for the hosts, with Scotland continuing their fine recent Calcutta Cup record.
The opening round loss makes this encounter all the more important for Borthwick and his side, and Italy showed in a valiant defeat to France just how dangerous they can be.
Favouring an open, attacking game to suit an expressive young team, Kieran Crowley’s side pushed the defending grand slammers close in Rome and will now seek a first-ever win over England.
England vs Italy team news and starting line-ups
Everything you need to know ahead of the Round Two clash
Marcus Smith dropped by England as Steve Borthwick shuffles midfield pack
England have broken up their contentious playmaking axis of Marcus Smith and Owen Farrell as part of a revamped midfield selected for Sunday’s Six Nations clash with Italy.
Having started the last eight Tests together, Smith has been demoted to the bench to accommodate Owen Farrell’s selection at fly-half instead of inside centre.
Former England boss Eddie Jones hoped the creative alliance would blossom in time for the World Cup and Steve Borthwick retained the duo for his first game in charge against Scotland last Saturday, but they have fired only sporadically as a partnership.
Borthwick completed a significant overhaul of the midfield by replacing Joe Marchant with Henry Slade at outside centre while Ollie Lawrence fills the vacancy at 12.
Marcus Smith dropped by England as Steve Borthwick shuffles midfield pack
Smith drops to the bench while Owen Farrell will start at fly-half
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