Both England and Italy will look to bounce back from defeats when they face off at Twickenham on Saturday in the second round of the Six Nations.
England suffered a bruising defeat at the hands of Scotland at Twickenham for the first time since 1983 in round one.
The defending champions struggled to move the ball against a resolute Scottish side that cemented their place in history by winning the Calcutta cup.
Eddie Jones described his England side as trying to do “too many things” in the game and hopes they will bounce back against Italy.
England will welcome the return of their star props Kyle Sinckler and Mako Vunipola back into the squad.
Sinckler, returning from a two week ban for swearing at match officials, and Vunipola having recovered off the back of an Achilles injury, should provide a real boost for England.
Jones, speaking about his squad selection and returning players, said: “As always, we’ve picked what we think is our strongest 23 to try and win the game.”
On the other hand, their opponents Italy are no strangers to losing.
Having not won a six nations match since 2015, the Italians are currently on a 28 game slide of consecutive losses.
Italy have never beaten England in 27 attempts.
Franco Smith, the Azzurri head coach, has selected a youthful side and will be without centre Marco Zanon for an already uphill task.
There is little pressure or expectation on Italy to win on Saturday but wider noise persists about their continued involvement and competitiveness in the tournament giving the upcoming talented nations of Romania and Georgia.
Unlike their upcoming opponents on Saturday there is pressure on England who must win this game to have any hope of retaining their 2020 Six Nations Title.
