England play their final home fixture of the 2025 Six Nations as Italy visit Twickenham in the penultimate round of action on Sunday.
It’s been a rather strange campaign so far for Steve Borthwick’s inconsistent side, who led at half-time away in Ireland in round one before being blown away thereafter but ensuring a late bonus point, then seriously riding their luck at home to France and Scotland but coming out on the winning side on both occasions in direct contrast to a frustrating 2024 in which they played much better but lost so many close games against top-tier opponents.
While those wins eased the pressure that had been building on Borthwick, a strong finish to the Six Nations is needed and England will know ahead of kick-off whether they can keep their faint title hopes alive heading into a trip to Wales on Super Saturday, with a victory for France needed in their huge battle with Grand Slam and historic three peat-chasing Ireland in Dublin. An Ireland win in that contest removes all drama from proceedings with only a trip to Rome left on their schedule.
Italy head to south-west London having fallen short with a spirited second-half comeback at Murrayfield on opening weekend before showing more progress in a deserved home win over desperate Wales, only to then concede 73 points – the second-most in a match in Six Nations history – in an embarrassing defeat by France last time out that evoked memories of the tough old days of Italian rugby.
England vs Italy date, kick-off time and venue
England vs Italy takes place on Sunday March 9, 2025 at Allianz Stadium Twickenham in south-west London. Kick-off is at 3pm GMT, or 4pm CET in Italy.
How to watch England vs Italy
TV channel: England vs Italy is being broadcast live and free-to-air in the UK on ITV1, with coverage beginning at 2:15pm GMT.
Live stream: ITVX will also be providing a free live stream service online, with only a registration needed.
Live blog: Follow the game on Sunday with Standard Sport’s live blog.
England vs Italy team news
England’s only other change from the 16-15 win over Scotland in which Finn Russell dramatically missed a late conversion – his third of the day – is in the centres, where the established Henry Slade-Ollie Lawrence partnership is broken up as the former makes way for Fraser Dingwall.
Surprise pick: Fraser Dingwall will make his first England start for more than a year against Italy
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That means that five of the starting backline are team-mates from Northampton Saints, and it would surely be six if George Furbank weren’t currently out injured.
The pack is unchanged, with former captain Jamie George set to earn his 100th Test cap at hooker, while Tom Curry and Tom Willis have both proven their fitness to start in the back row.
It’s a 6-2 bench split again from Borthwick, but with Jack van Poortvliet replacing Harry Randall as scrum-half cover.
Italy head coach Gonzalo Quesada is set to name his team on Friday, having been without the likes of wing Monty Ioane and Harlequins lock Dino Lamb against France, where Simone Gesi started out wide and Gianmarco Lucchesi was preferred to Giacomo Nicotera at hooker.
England XV: Daly; Freeman, Lawrence, Dingwall, Sleightholme; F Smith, Mitchell; Genge, George, Stuart; Itoje, Chessum; T Curry, Earl, Willis
Replacements: Cowan-Dickie, Baxter, Heyes, Hill, Cunningham-South, B Curry, Van Poortvliet, M Smith
England vs Italy head to head (h2h) history and results
England are the only team remaining in the Six Nations never to have lost to Italy, coming out on top in all 31 previous meetings dating back to 1991.
Italy’s last trip to Twickenham in 2023 ended with a 31-14 bonus-point victory for the hosts, the first of Borthwick’s coaching tenure.
England vs Italy prediction
It is difficult to make a proper assessment of Borthwick’s England at the moment or indeed get an accurate handle on what the real expectations are, with close defeats after generally good performances and fortuitous narrow wins after bad.
Victories over Italy and Wales would see them achieve the feat of four Six Nations wins that seemed very ambitious when initially set by the RFU before the tournament and continue to make Borthwick’s job safer, while they technically go into round four still alive in the title race – though Ireland may well have something to say about that on Saturday. Even if they don’t, England would need to score a whole lot of points to genuinely have a shot.
But there’s not much joy and optimism around the place despite the shock last-gasp win over France and wrestling back the Calcutta Cup for the first time since 2020, with fans clearly remaining unhappy with the style of play and nature of their performances, which involves few phases and a hell of a lot of kicking, as told by the audible booing that greeted an umpteenth Alex Mitchell box kick against Scotland at Twickenham.
Scotland dominated much of the game a fortnight ago and showcased a brand of rugby that would quieten even the most hardened naysayers at HQ, with England’s attack so painfully stilted again and no chance at sustained ball in hand for any of their main threats, a major regression on the encouraging improvements seen against France.
Strange times: The Calcutta Cup is finally back in English hands, but fans remain frustrated
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It often seems that England can never manage to marry a solid defensive display with an exciting attacking showing, but they have the chance to change that this weekend against an Italy team who should not be underestimated, scoring some great early tries against France and boasting one of the best centre partnerships around in Tommaso Menoncello and Ignacio Brex, but who showed their lingering vulnerabilities in that thrashing by France.
Dropping Marcus Smith feels harsh and the changes made are hardly likely to get supporters overly excited, but there is more than enough quality and attacking nous in the team to put on a bit of a show, while the heavy Northampton contingent should allow for impressive back cohesion. But will they be allowed to change up their style and take the handbrake off to prove a point to the doubters?
England to win, by 15 points.
England vs Italy match odds
Odds via Betfair (subject to change).
