England boss Martin Johnson has warned his side that they will be in for a tough time against Italy at Twickenham.
At Twickenham, Saturday February 12, kick-off 2.30pm
England boss Martin Johnson has warned his side that they will be in for a tough time against Italy at Twickenham.
England are big favourites to record a second successive win in this season's RBS Six Nations, following their 26-19 victory over Wales.
Italy, though, proved they will be no pushovers after came close to beating Ireland in Rome - with the visitors needing a late Ronan O'Gara drop goal to secure a 13-11 victory.
And Johnson has insisted that his side must be at their best if they are to avoid a first-ever loss to the Azzurri.
"We seem to have the same conversation whenever we play Italy, even going back to when we played them in the 1995 World Cup and the World Cup qualifier in 1998 - they are tough games," Johnson said.
No illusions
"They should have won last week. They can play. They keep hold of the ball and put you under pressure. They do that well and we are under no illusions that this is the toughest Test we can play this week."
Johnson had initially made just one change to his squad, with Leeds flanker Hendre Fourie named on the bench ahead of Joe Worsley.
However a back injury to Andrew Sheridan has meant Alex Corbisiero will come into the side to win his first cap.
Italy, on the other hand, have responded to their defeat to Ireland by making four changes.
Injuries mean Edoardo Gori and Josh Sole both miss out, with Fabio Semenzato and Valerio Bernabo coming into the starting XV.
Luciano Orquera and Carlo Del Fava are also named in the line-up, with Kris Burton and Santiago Dellape dropping to the bench.
England: 15 Ben Foden, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Mike Tindall (capt), 12 Shontayne Hape, 11 Mark Cueto, 10 Toby Flood, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Nick Easter, 7 James Haskell, 6 Tom Wood, 5 Tom Palmer, 4 Louis Deacon, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley, 1 Alex Corbisiero.
Replacements: 16 Steve Thompson, 17 David Wilson, 18 Simon Shaw, 19 Hendre Fourie, 20 Danny Care, 21 Jonny Wilkinson, 22 Matt Banahan.
Italy: 15 Luke McLean, 14 Andrea Masi, 13 Gonzalo Canale, 12 Alberto Sgarbi, 11 Mirco Bergamasco, 10 Luciano Orquera, 9 Fabio Semenzato, 8 Sergio Parisse (c), 7 Alessandro Zanni, 6 Valerio Bernabo, 5 Quintin Geldenhuys, 4 Carlo Antonio Del Fava, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Salvatore Perugini.
Replacements: 16 Fabio Ongaro, 17 Andrea Lo Cicero, 18 Santiago Dellape, 19 Robert Barbieri, 20 Pablo Canavosio, 21 Kris Burton, 22 Gonzalo Garcia.
