Harry Randall has been handed his Six Nations debut at scrum-half in an England XV showing six changes to face Italy in Rome on Sunday.
Eddie Jones has heavily shuffled his side after the defeat to Scotland, England’s third successive Six Nations opening loss, saying his team’s aim is “playing really well and lighting up Rome”.
Bristol scrum-half Randall comes in for Ben Youngs, who is in line to equal Jason Leonard’s record for the most caps for England (114) from the bench.
Youngs’ Leicester Tigers team-mate Ollie Chessum, the 21-year-old lock-cum-flanker, could make his Test debut from the bench. Six foot seven Chessum was described by Jones as “workhorse”.
With Tom Curry remaining as captain, there are a total of six changes of personnel, with two of last week’s starters moving positions. Joe Marchant swaps the left wing for outside centre, while Maro Itoje moves to blindside flanker in the absence of the injured Lewis Ludlam.
Jack Nowell replaces Elliot Daly in the backline, with Alex Dombrandt coming in for Sam Simmonds at No8. This will be Dombrandt’s first Six Nations start.
“When we look at the team we try to maximise our resources,” said Jones. “Sam Simmonds played very well at number eight but we’re going to finish with him this week.
“We want to see Alex Dombrandt play in a game that we think will rally suit him. Italy tend to be more open and unstructured type games so we feel that it’s a great game for him to start in at number eight. Curry picks himself at seven and then we’ve gone for a big six. We want to get a bit more running out of Maro in terms of his attack and this is a great opportunity for him.
“Jack Nowell has had three solid weeks of training with us and we feel he’s ready to play. He has that work rate, that bounce in his step. I haven’t seen him this sharp since 2016.”
Charlie Ewels slots into the second row, and there are two changes to the front row: Jamie George starts ahead of Luke Cowan-Dickie at hooker and Will Stuart replacing Kyle Sinckler at tighthead.
The team looks built to suit fly-half Marcus Smith. Two of the team-mates with which he has such strong rapport at Harlequins – Dombrandt and Marchant – will be nearby, while Randall is a zippier, quicker scrum-half than Youngs, the veteran.
“We’ve been really pleased with Harry,” said Jones. “Ben started for us last week and we’ve just reversed the roles. Harry’s a livewire half-back, he’s very good in broken play. He’s got a good solid pass on him. And his kicking game is improving.
“This is a very young team but a very good team. It’s a great opportunity for players to start the game rather than finish the game.”
Jones has given himself an extremely experienced bench, with Joe Marler, Cowan-Dickie and Sinckler ready to come on in the front-row, plus Youngs, George Ford and Daly behind the scrum.
Cowan-Dickie remains one of Curry’s three vice-captains (Ellis Genge and Henry Slade are the others) despite being on the bench, having been “unable to train this week” due to a knock.
England starting XV
15. Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers, 6 caps) 14. Max Malins (Saracens, 11 caps) 13. Joe Marchant (Harlequins, 8 caps) 12. Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs, 44 caps) (VC) 11. Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs, 35 caps) 10. Marcus Smith (Harlequins, 6 caps) 9. Harry Randall (Bristol Bears, 2 caps) 1. Ellis Genge (Leicester Tigers, 32 caps) (VC) 2. Jamie George (Saracens, 62 caps) 3. Will Stuart (Bath Rugby, 16 caps) 4. Charlie Ewels (Bath Rugby, 27 caps) 5. Nick Isiekwe (Saracens, 4 caps) 6. Maro Itoje (Saracens, 52 caps) 7. Tom Curry (Sale Sharks, 37 caps) (C) 8. Alex Dombrandt (Harlequins, 5 caps)
Finishers
16. Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs, 32 caps) (VC) 17. Joe Marler (Harlequins, 75 caps) 18. Kyle Sinckler (Bristol Bears, 48 caps) 19. Ollie Chessum (Leicester Tigers, uncapped) 20. Sam Simmonds (Exeter Chiefs, 10 caps) 21. Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers, 113 caps) 22. George Ford (Leicester Tigers, 78 caps) 23. Elliot Daly (Saracens, 53 caps)
