| Conference location: Olympic Stadium, Rome Date: Saturday October 31st Kicking off: 16:45 GMT |
| Cover: Live on BBC Radio 5 Live with live text on the BBC Sport website and app |
| Highlights: View after the game on the BBC Sport website and app. |
Exeter’s double-winning Jonny Hill castle will make its England debut in Saturday’s six-nation game against Italy in Rome.
Hill starred as the Chiefs won a national and European double this month, joining Maro Itoje in the second row.
Scrum half Ben Youngs wins his 100th international, making him the second Englishman after Jason Leonard.
England could seal the six-nation title with a win if France’s result against Ireland goes their way.
Hooker Tom Dunn and defense attorneys Ollie Lawrence and Ollie Thorley are about to make their debut on the bench.
In addition to the Youngs, the start whore Jamie George reaches a milestone at the Stadio Olimpico when he wins his 50th international match.
Captain Owen Farrell starts at 10 a.m. and is assisted in midfield by Henry Slade and Jonathan Joseph as George Ford and center Manu Tuilagi are unavailable.
Northampton’s George Furbank starts as full-back in the absence of the injured Elliot Daly.
Even with a bonus point win, England would only be confirmed as six-nation champions after France’s game against Ireland.
England’s team meets Italy
Furbank; Watson, Joseph, Slade, May; Farrell, Youngs; M Vunipola, George, Sinckler, Itoje, Hill, Curry, Underhill, B Vunipola.
Replacement: Dunn, Genge, Stuart, Ewels, Earl, Robson, Lawrence, Thorley.
New faces come in as the injury list grows
The presence of four uncapped players on Matchday 23 comes as head coach Eddie Jones battles a growing list of injured players.
Dan Robson, Waspen-Scrum-Half, will win his third international game after Willi Heinz excluded on Wednesday with a leg injury.
Exeter hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie, clubmate Jack Nowell, Joe Marler and Courtney Lawes are also injured.
Wasp fly half Jacob Umaga was overlooked and didn’t leave an obvious 10 on the bench, but Jones suggested earlier in the week that he’d tried Furbank in that position.
Striker coach Matt Proudfoot said in the form of Wasp Flanker Jack Willis was “ready for test rugby” But the 23-year-old didn’t make it into the squad, instead Bristol’s Ben Earl is on the bench.
Hill fights against the competition to open the second row
Lock George Kruis left a large hole to fill England’s second row when he announced it a move to Japan in May.
Hill, previously selected for the 2018 South Africa tour in England, has beaten British veterans Joe Launchbury and Baths Charlie Ewels for his place in the starting XI.
And head coach Jones said the 6ft 7in lock’s performances with Exeter showed he was ready for his first international.
“We had to find a big, big, and strong lock to replace George Kruis, who was an outstanding member of our team,” said Jones.
“Jonny did this job for Exeter. He’s good at line-out, good mouth and jerk. He’s got a great work ethic and he’s a really good example of what Exeter made.”
England’s Six Nations will be readmitted
England will play their first game since the lockdown after a seven-month hiatus for the Six Nations due to the coronavirus pandemic and the cancellation of last week’s scheduled barbarian test.
Here’s how they’ve done so far:
