M
SM

Six Nations

England

Mar 9, 2019 at 4.45pm UK
England
vs.
Italy
 

Game Menu

Te'o and Tuilagi to team up for England

The Pacific Islands duo will play in the centres against Italy.

England have selected a destructive centre partnership of Ben Te'o and Manu Tuilagi for Saturday's Guinness Six Nations match against Italy.

It is the first time the powerful carriers of Pacific Islands heritage have started together with Henry Slade dropping to the bench to accommodate Tuilagi's switch to 13 and Te'o's inclusion at inside centre.

And continuing the theme of a bulldozing backline – the biggest of the Eddie Jones era – is Joe Cokanasiga's inclusion on the right wing after Jack Nowell failed to recover from a shoulder injury.

Cokanasiga will win his fourth cap after making his Six Nations debut against Wales in Cardiff, deploying his 6'4″ and 18 stones frame outside a midfield duo that weigh in at a combined 34 stones.

The backline otherwise remains unchanged with Ben Youngs and Owen Farrell continuing at half-back in a selection that sees Dan Robson and George Ford overlooked once again.

In total there are five changes in personnel to the side dispatched 21-13 at the Principality Stadium on February 23, including Joe Launchbury's elevation to the starting XV after Maro Itoje lost his battle with a knee injury.

It was hoped that Itoje would recover from his medial ligament damage to fill the void created by Courtney Lawes' calf strain, but a setback in training means that Launchbury will pack down together for only the second time.

England's Manu Tuilagi will play in the centre alongside Ben Te'o (Steven Paston/PA)

Ellis Genge starts at loosehead prop, forcing Ben Moon on to the bench, and Brad Shields displaces Mark Wilson at blindside flanker.

"Italy are a bit of an unknown quantity but when Conor allows them to play rugby they play well," Eddie Jones said, in reference to the Azzurri's no ruck tactics of two years ago.

"They have played terrific games in the Six Nations. They are fitter, physically stay in the contest a lot longer and they are quite unpredictable in the way they attack.

"We expect Italy to throw the ball around a bit so we are going to have to defend very well against their unpredictability and when we have got the ball, we have to use it wisely."



amp_article_352587 : Collect and Make Data not in DataBase  : 
last updated article - 2019-03-07 13:57:10:
html db last update - 2019-03-07 12:57:10 :

ex - 7200 : read : write cache and make html

Click here for more stories about Manu Tuilagi

Click here for more stories about England

Share this article now:

Subscribe to our Newsletter


Transfer Talk Daily
Match previews - twice weekly
Morning Briefing (7am UTC)
UC
Get the latest transfer news, match previews and news direct to your inbox!

Loading ...

Failed to load data.

Loading ...

Failed to load data.

Select and display your favourite team's news and scores in this panel
Premier League Table
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Manchester CityMan City29232476205671
2Liverpool29217164154970
3Tottenham HotspurSpurs29201856302661
4Manchester UnitedMan Utd29177558382058
5Arsenal29176661392257
6Chelsea28175649301956
7Wolverhampton WanderersWolves29127103735243
8Watford29127104141043
9West Ham UnitedWest Ham29116123741-439
10Everton29107123939037
11Leicester CityLeicester29105143541-635
12Bournemouth29104153954-1534
13Crystal Palace2996143539-433
14Newcastle UnitedNewcastle2987142636-1031
15Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton2886143041-1130
16Burnley2986153253-2130
17Southampton2969143249-1727
18Cardiff CityCardiff2974182557-3225
19Fulham2945202765-3817
20Huddersfield TownHuddersfield2935211551-3614
Scroll for more - Tap for full version

Subscribe to our Newsletter


Transfer Talk Daily
Match previews - twice weekly
Morning Briefing (7am UTC)
UC
Get the latest transfer news, match previews and news direct to your inbox!

Loading ...

Failed to load data.

Loading ...

Failed to load data.

Loading ...

Failed to load data.

Select and display your favourite team's news and scores in this panel
Premier League Table
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Manchester CityMan City29232476205671
2Liverpool29217164154970
3Tottenham HotspurSpurs29201856302661
4Manchester UnitedMan Utd29177558382058
5Arsenal29176661392257
6Chelsea28175649301956
7Wolverhampton WanderersWolves29127103735243
8Watford29127104141043
9West Ham UnitedWest Ham29116123741-439
10Everton29107123939037
11Leicester CityLeicester29105143541-635
12Bournemouth29104153954-1534
13Crystal Palace2996143539-433
14Newcastle UnitedNewcastle2987142636-1031
15Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton2886143041-1130
16Burnley2986153253-2130
17Southampton2969143249-1727
18Cardiff CityCardiff2974182557-3225
19Fulham2945202765-3817
20Huddersfield TownHuddersfield2935211551-3614
Scroll for more - Tap for full version
X

We value your privacy

A part of our GDPR compliance we need to ask for your consent. We and our partners use technology such as cookies on Sports Mole to personalise content and ads, provide social media features, and analyse our traffic. Click below to consent to the use of this technology on Sports Mole.