England host Italy in the Six Nations at Twickenham on Sunday, the final action in Round 4 and the hosts will need a win to stay in contention for the title.
England v Italy, Sunday 9th March, Twickenham, KO 17:00 (South African time)
Referee: Andrew Brace (Ireland)
Assistant Referees: Craig Evans (Wales) & Luc Ramos (France)
TMO: Marius Jonker (South Africa)
Weather Forecast – Twickenham
England
England kept their title hopes alive when they edged out Scotland 16-15 at Twickenham in Round 3. They were 8.5 point favourites with the bookmakers but scored just the 1 try through Freemen inside the first 10 minutes. The Scots blew a chance to snatch victory at the death when they failed to convert a late try.
England put themselves in the winners box in Round 2 when they edged out France 26-25 at Twickenham. They scored 4 tries in total including 2 in the last 10 minutes to scrape a win with a bonus point. In their opening round clash against Ireland in Dublin England lost 27-22. A strong first half showing saw them lead 10-5 at half time and threaten a surprise but Ireland came on strong and a couple of late England tries saw them finish with a losing bonus point.
England finished Round 3 in third spot with 10 log points, 1 behind France and 4 shy of Ireland who clash in Dublin on Saturday. In the outright betting markets with WSB England are currently 11/1 to win the title.
Fixtures & Results: R1 Ireland (a) lost 27-22, R2 France (h) won 26-25, R3 Scotland (h) won 16-15, R4 Italy (h), R5 Wales (a)
Italy
Italy were thrashed 73-24 by France in their Round 3 home fixture, a record points total for Les Bleus against the Italians. France started as 17.5 point favourites on the main handicap line and they ran in 11 tries in total.
Italy had put themselves on the board with a 22-15 home win over Wales in Round 2. Capuozzo scored their only try of the game, converted by Allan who also landed with 5 penalties. In Round 1 Italy were given around 17.5 points start on the bookmakers handicap for their clash with Scotland at Murrayfield and they finished beaten 31-19.
Italy are fifth on the log with 4 points, 3 more than Wales who are in Scotland on Saturday. In the outright betting markets with WSB Italy are currently 5/1 to finish bottom of the standings with Wales trading at 1/10 for the wooden spoon.
Fixtures & Results: R1 Scotland (a) lost 31-19, R2 Wales (h) won 22-15, R3 France (h) lost 73-24, R4 England (a), R5 Ireland (h)
Team News
England: 15 Elliot Daly, 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 12 Fraser Dingwall, 11 Ollie Sleightholme, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Tom Willis, 7 Ben Earl, 6 Tom Curry, 5 Ollie Chessum, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Will Stuart, 2 Jamie George, 1 Ellis Genge
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
Italy: tbc
Head to Head (6 Nations Only)
2024 6N Rome Italy 24-27 England
2023 6N Twickenham England 31–14 Italy
2022 6N Rome Italy 0-33 England
2021 6N Twickenham England 41-18 Italy
2020 6N Rome Italy 5–34 England
2019 6N Twickenham England 57–14 Italy
2018 6N Rome Italy 15–46 England
2017 6N Twickenham England 36–15 Italy
The Betting
Average early show, to be updated
England -22.5 points at 9/10
Italy +22.5 points at 9/10
Note, odds quoted are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change.
Betting Angle
to follow
Bet: to follow
Note, odds are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
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