Lewis Ludlam and Alex Mitchell have been named in England’s matchday squad for their second round of the the Guinness Six Nations, with head coach Steve Borthwick naming the Northampton Saints pair in his squad for Sunday’s clash with Italy.
Club captain Ludlam – who was a bright spark in England’s 23-29 opening defeat to Scotland last weekend – will make his 16th England appearance as he starts against the Azzurri, while scrum-half Mitchell is primed to earn his second international cap from amongst the replacements at Twickenham Stadium.
England head coach Borthwick said: “We welcome an exciting and in form Italy team to Twickenham on Sunday. We recognise and respect the very real threat they pose in this Six Nations Championship and we are preparing accordingly.
“Notwithstanding the disappointment of last weekend’s Calcutta Cup result, we know that in a very short space of time positive steps have been taken towards the manner and style in which we want to play our rugby.
“We are at the start of what is a completely new cycle of England Rugby. The implementation of new systems does take time and the squad is showing themselves to be hungry to deliver the sort of performance that we know they are capable of.
“From the squad, I have selected a team for Sunday’s fixture that I believe is best placed to meet the specific challenges that Italy will bring.
“It is a selection of players whose form, individual strengths and combined qualities suit the way we want to play against Italy, in what we anticipate will be another hard-fought and entertaining spectacle.”
England v Italy is live on ITV and BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra.
England squad to face Italy
15 Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers, 18 caps)
14 Max Malins (Saracens, 15 caps)
13 Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs, 52 caps)
12 Ollie Lawrence (Bath Rugby, 8 caps)
11 Ollie Hassell-Collins (London Irish, 1 cap)
10 Owen Farrell (Saracens, 102 caps) (C)
9 Jack van Poortvliet (Leicester Tigers, 8 caps)
1 Ellis Genge (Bristol Bears, 44 caps) (VC)
2 Jamie George (Saracens, 73 caps)
3 Kyle Sinckler (Bristol Bears, 57 caps)
4 Maro Itoje (Saracens, 63 caps)
5 Ollie Chessum (Leicester Tigers, 6 caps)
6 Lewis Ludlam (Northampton Saints, 15 caps)
7 Jack Willis (Toulouse, 6 caps)
8 Alex Dombrandt (Harlequins, 10 caps)
Replacements:
16 Jack Walker (Harlequins, uncapped)
17 Mako Vunipola (Saracens, 75 caps)
18 Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers, 96 caps)
19 Nick Isiekwe (Saracens, 9 caps)
20 Ben Earl (Saracens, 14 caps)
21 Alex Mitchell (Northampton Saints, 1 cap)
22 Marcus Smith (Harlequins, 18 caps)
23 Henry Arundell (London Irish, 3 caps)
