England set for same again

Phil Dowson appears to have held off a challenge from Ben Morgan to keep his place at number eight after making his Test debut in last weekend's 13-6 Calcutta Cup victory over Scotland.

Charlie Hodgson took a blow to the shoulder at Murrayfield but he is fit to continue at fly-half with Owen Farrell and Brad Barritt again forming an all-Saracens midfield.

Chris Robshaw will lead England for the second time after an impressive performance against Scotland, knowing Lancaster plans to review the captaincy role after this game.

Lancaster will confirm his side at 9.45am on Thursday.

Competition

England are without Toby Flood and Manu Tuilagi, although both players could feature for Leicester this weekend and be available to face Wales on February 25.

The Northampton pair of Courtney Lawes and Tom Wood are also still sidelined.

But Saints scrum-half Lee Dickson is thought to have recovered from a hand injury to retain his place on the bench, where England are likely to stick with a four-three split between forwards and backs.

Two years ago, England picked two replacement props for their trip to Rome, handing Matt Mullan a debut off the bench in a 17-12 victory.

Matt Stevens is set to cover both sides this weekend, with Harlequins loosehead Joe Marler asked to continue waiting for his own Test debut.

Joe Simpson, the Wasps scrum-half, is also set to miss out on a place in the 22 although he and Marler will both travel to Rome with the squad on Thursday evening.

Italy coach Jacques Brunel has made two changes to the side that was beaten by France last week, handing starts to Aironi lock Marco Bortolami Clermont Auvergne centre Gonzalo Canale.

Veteran flanker Mauro Bergamasco has been included on the bench after recovering from the shoulder injury that ruled him out of the 2011 championship and last weekend's 30-12 defeat at the Stade de France.