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As it happenedended
8 years ago

England vs Italy - as it happened: Eddie Jone's men find their rhythm to see off the Azzurri

Re-live all the action from the Six Nations clash at Twickenham

Jack de Menezes
Sunday 26 February 2017 06:26 EST
Comments
Ben Te'o runs over for his team's fifth try at Twickenham
Ben Te'o runs over for his team's fifth try at Twickenham (Getty)

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England made hard work of their third Six Nations match of the season as they fought to a 36-15 victory at Twickenham against Italy in controversial circumstances, having trailed at half-time. Re-live the match here.

  • England beat Italy 36-15
  • Italy led 10-5 at half-time after deploying a controversial defensive tactic
  • Italians negated offside rule by not committing to the ruck
  • England score six tries five five coming after the break
  • Cole, Care, Daly, Te'o and two tries from Nowell
  • Italy's reply came through Venditti and Campagnaro
  • Teams
  • England: M Brown; J May, B Te'o, O Farrell, E Daly; G Ford), D Care; J Marler, D Hartley, D Cole, J Launchbury, C Lawes, M Itoje, J Haskell, N Hughes.
  • Replacements: J George, M Vunipola, K Sinckler, T Wood, J Clifford, B Youngs, H Slade, J Nowell.
  • Italy: E Padovani; G Bisegni, M Campagnaro, L McLean, G Venditti; T Allan, E Gori; A Lovotti, L Ghiraldini, L Cittadini, M Fuser, A van Schalkwyk, A Steyn, S Favaro, S Parisse.
  • Replacements: O Gega, M Rizzo, P Ceccarelli, G Biagi, M Mbanda, G Bronzini, C Canna, T Benvenuti.

Follow the live action below...

Please allow a moment for the blog to load...

Preview...

England are looking for a 17th consecutive victory when they welcome Italy to Twickenham Stadium on Sunday afternoon, with Eddie Jones’s side the one unbeaten team left in the championship.

England have beaten France and Wales over the opening two rounds, but have needed late fightbacks in both matches to ensure Jones’s unbeaten run remains intact. He makes four changes, three of which come in the back line as Danny Care replaces Ben Youngs at scrum-half, Ben Te’o starts at outside centre in place of Jonathan Joseph and Jack Nowell drops out of the side to accommodate Jonny May.

The only other change sees James Haskell replace Jack Clifford at openside flanker, with the Harlequins back-row joining Youngs and Nowell among the replacements.

Italy also make four changes, the biggest one coming at fly-half as Tommasso Allan replaces Carlo Canna. Exeter centre Michele Campagnaro comes in at 13, with Giulio Bisegni starting on the wing, while the other change comes on the blindside as Braam Steyn starts at flanker in place of Maxime Mbanda.

Here’s everything you need to know about the match.

What time does it start...

England vs Italy kicks off at 15:00 GMT at Twickenham.

Where can I watch it...

The match will be shown live on ITV from 14:00. You can also follow the match with The Independent’s live blog here.

It’s a big game for...

Danny Care: The scrum-half comes into the side knowing that the No 9 shirt is up for grabs if he can produce a performance to impress Eddie Jones. While Ben Youngs hasn’t done a lot wrong in the opening two fixtures, Care has helped swing the game in England’s favour when introduced from the bench, and Jones has tasked him with delivering that impact from the start of the match in order to hit Italy with a knockout blow early.

Key player...

Sergio Parisse: Italy’s level of performance will be set by their influential captain Sergio Parisse. When the No 8 performs at the top of his game, the rest of the team ups their performance and that’s when Italy can produce a shock, especially when they have been written off by just about everyone not in an Italian shirt.

Past three meetings...

Italy 9 England 40, Six Nations, February 2015.

England 47 Italy 17, Six Nations, February 2014.

Italy 11 England 52, Six Nations, March 2013.

Form:

England: WWWWWW

Italy: LLLWLW

Odds...

England to win: 1/100

Italy to win: 50/1

Draw: 100/1.

8 years ago

And right on cue, we've got rain in the air. It's not enough to make any difference yet, but its getting increasingly dark overhead.

Jack de Menezes26 February 2017 14:42
8 years ago

Jack de Menezes26 February 2017 14:45
8 years ago

Preparations reaching a conclusion here now, as Laura Wright takes to the makeshift stage out on the pitch for a rendition of World In Union. Just 10 minutes until kick-off!

Jack de Menezes26 February 2017 14:49
8 years ago

Here we go then, Owen Farrell appears in the tunnel ahead of his England teammates, and the centre runs out on his own to celebrate reaching his 50th cap before he's joined by the rest of the squad, as well as the Italians!

Jack de Menezes26 February 2017 14:54
8 years ago

Time for the anthems...

Jack de Menezes26 February 2017 14:54
8 years ago

It's time to get going. Can England take their next step towards a second straight Grand Slam, or can Italy beat England for the first time ever?

Jack de Menezes26 February 2017 14:59
8 years ago

1 mins: ENGLAND KICK-OFF AND THE MATCH IS UNDERWAY!

Jack de Menezes26 February 2017 14:59
8 years ago

2 mins: Kick-off safely taken by Italy, and they're outside their 22 to Gori box-kicks away. brown takes it but is hit by a big tackle from Favaro. Both Ford and Allan trade kicks, before an Italian knock-on means England have to rebuild from their own half. They kick away and Parisse is hit hard by Lawes and Launchbury, but again Italy are happy to kick possession away. England go wide for the first time, but Hughes takes his eyes off a Ford pass and knocks it forwards. Scrum Italy on halfway.

Jack de Menezes26 February 2017 15:02
8 years ago

4 mins: Good first scrum from Italy as Mclean releases Bisegni on the left. He's tackled on the 10m, and when Parisse offloads to Gori, he's nailed by a charging Itoji. Itay recycle the ball though and quickly make ground. Hughes is then penalised for going off his feet in the ruck and Italy have an early shot at goal.

Jack de Menezes26 February 2017 15:04
8 years ago

5 mins: Allan kicks at goal from about 38m out and to the left of the posts, and it's off-target to the left.

Jack de Menezes26 February 2017 15:05

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