Our rugby expert has previewed Italy vs England in their final Six Nations match, with two predictions for the game.
- Italy host England at the Stadio Olimpico at 4:45pm on Saturday for their final game of the 2020 Six Nations - live on ITV1 from 4:00pm.
- England sit 2nd in the Six Nations table and could win the championship with a bonus point win, should Ireland fail to do the same.
- Danny Till landed two from three in his preview last weekend and he has two selections for Italy v England, dipping into the tryscorer markets for both.
Italy v England - 16:45 Saturday
England travel to Italy on Saturday for the penultimate fixture of the 2020 Six Nations Championship, knowing a bonus point win could secure them the title if Ireland fail to register a bonus point win over France later in the day.
Eddie Jones has named a strong starting XV as his side look to pile on the points in Rome. Exeter’s Jonny Hill makes his debut in the second row, while the likes of Ollie Thorley and Ollie Lawrence are set for their debuts from the bench.
Joseph to continue fine record against Italy
When you head into a match knowing you need to tries, its pretty handy to have a centre like Jonathan Joseph at your disposal. The Bath star has scored 17 tries in 51 appearances for England and has been a key player for Eddie Jones since the beginning of his tenure.
Five of Joseph’s 17 scores have come against Italy, including a hat-trick at the Stadio Olimpico in 2016 – and the scoring record of England’s outside centres against Italy as a whole is impressive. The number 13 jersey has touched down 9 times since 2015 (eight of those scores coming in the Six Nations).
With the way this game looks set to go Joseph could be in for another fruitful afternoon against a side who have conceded 144 points in their four previous fixtures.
Young gun can finish the job for Eddie Jones
Ben Earl has been one of the standout performers since the return of domestic and European rugby, scoring six tries. The explosive back-row forward was a key man as Bristol Bears claimed the European Challenge Cup earlier this month.
We know how much stock Eddie Jones puts in his “finishers” to change the pace and flow of a match, and they will certainly be needed as England chase a big win in Rome. Earl is the perfect player to bring energy and power for the final quarter of a game.
We saw last week against Ireland that the Italian effort began to wane in the final 15 minutes. If that is repeated this week then Earl will exploit any weakness in defence and at 16/1 he looks a very big price to be the last tryscorer.
