England, the only undefeated team in the Six Nations Championship 2017, will take on bottom-placed Italy at Twickenham Stadium on Sunday, February 26. The English have looked solid in the competition and one does not see Italy troubling the home team.
Six Nations 2017 complete schedule
England, after defeating France in their opener, came from behind to defeat Wales, showing huge character in an entertaining encounter. There is an air of confidence within the England camp, which stems from their 16-match winning streak.
This match against Italy is going to be a special occasion for England's Ben Te'o, who is set to make his first international start. Head coach Eddie Jones, in particular, is very excited to see how he fares in the midfield, when he is alongside George Ford and Owen Farrell. Jones also opened up about his plan where he wants to start with Danny Care. Ben Youngs will be involved later.
"Ben Te'o at 13 gives us another way of playing the game and we are excited about seeing him, George Ford and Owen Farrell play together in the midfield. Ben Youngs has been outstanding for us at number nine, but Danny Care gets the starting jersey this week. For the first half he'll give us a lot of speed and running at the base of the ruck as well as the scrum. Ben will then come on and finish the game," BBC quoted Jones as saying.
Well, for Italy, who have been thrashed by Wales and Ireland, things do not look too bright for them against England. Italy's last win in the Six Nations Championship came in February 2015, and have lost nine matches since. It would be one of the biggest upsets in the Six Nations history if they manage to shock England.
Even the positive fans of Italy know the daunting task, especially after their last two matches in which they were outplayed. After some poor results, their place in the Six Nations has also come under severe criticism.
Italy's coach Conor O'Shea knows that England are massive favourites, and he wants his players to give their best and try to salvage some pride.
'It's a massive challenge [to take on England] we have a huge project going on over here. I think most people are going along with the expectation that England are going to out 60-70 points on us. Our job is to go on the pitch, perform our best and hopefully earn a bit of respect because it is not something — respect — that Italian rugby has had a huge amount of in recent weeks," O'Shea said.
When to Watch Live
The Six Nations match between England and Italy is set to begin at 3pm GMT, 4pm CET, 8.30pm IST Live Streaming and TV information below
India: TV: D Sport. Live Streaming: Rugby Pass.
UK: TV: BBC, ITV. Live Streaming: ITV Online
Italy: TV: DMAX.
France: TV: FR2.
Ireland: TV: RTE.
USA and Canada: TV: Bein Sports. Live Streaming: Bein Sports Connect.
