Italy vs England - as it happened: Eddie Jones' men see out seven-try victory in Rome
Re-live all the action from Sunday's Six Nations encounter
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Your support makes all the difference.England begin their Six Nations championship defence against Italy at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, with Eddie Jones' side looking to become the first nation to win the title outright three times consecutively in its 135-year history.
Jones rolls the dice by naming Ben Te'o at outside centre ahead of Jonathan Joseph, despite the Worcester Warriors midfielder not playing since October and having just seven appearances to his name this season, Te'o is brought in to try and give England some power out wide, with Joseph among the replacements should the game open up late on.
Italy meanwhile will be led by talismanic No 8 Sergio Parisse, who wins his 130th cap today, while fellow veteran Alessandro Zanni starts at lock to win his 100th cap 23 months after his last international appearance. The gauntlet has already been laid down by Wales, who thrashed Scotland 34-7 in the Six Nations' opening game yesterday, while Ireland needed a late Johnny Sexton drop-goal from 42m out to beat France 15-13.
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Good morning and welcome to The Independent's live coverage of today's Six Nations clash between Italy and England, brought to you live pitchside at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.
Buongiorno from a beautiful day in Rome!
The sun is shining and the smell of the Six Nations is in the air as Italy and England kick off their 2018 campaigns at the Stadio Olimpico. There's not a cloud in the sky this morning and the forecast suggests that more of the same is predicted for kick-off at 4pm local time (3pm GMT) for what should favour England's attacking style.
However, there's the big call by Eddie Jones to factor in today, with the head coach selecting Ben Te'o at outside centre despite his last appearance coming three-and-a-half months ago due to injury. Te'o impressed on the British and Irish Lions tour last summer and has clearly shown enough in training over the last two weeks to sway Jones' thinking that he deserves a chance ahead of Jonathan Joseph.
Apart from that, England are very much as expected, while Italy have decided to go with Tommaso Allan at fly-half ahead of Carlo Canna in what is a bit of a surprise. Alessandro Zanni will win his 100th cap this afternoon in the unfamiliar position of lock, while Sergio Parisse will once again lead the side in his 130th appearance for his country.
Follow all the build-up here throughout the day as we edge towards kick-off, with the action live on ITV from 14:30 GMT and kick-off scheduled for 15:00.
Firstly, let's start off with a reminder of yesterday's action, and what a day it was for Wales.
Written off by many before the tournament has even began, Wales thrashed a wasteful Scotland side 34-7, scoring four tries in the process to claim a bonus point, and held Gregor Townsend's side to no points for 78 minutes before Peter Horne eventually went over.
Leigh Halfpenny scored twice to claim his first international tries in two years, while Gareth Davies and Steff Evans completed the scoring for the home side who sit top of the table.
Next up, it was Ireland's turn to try and make a statement as they looked for just their second win in Paris in 17 years.
Joe Schmidt's side were unable to pull away from Les Bleus, relying on four Johnny Sexton penalties to build a 12-3 lead, but France clawed their way back into the tie with another penalty and, when Teddy Thomas dived over for the game's only try, the home side took a shock lead with just minutes remaining on the clock.
But Ireland were not out of it, and Sexton managed to land one of the most stunning drop-goals in Six Nations history to clinch a 15-13 victory in the 83rd minute of the match.
So how do those results affect our writer's Six Nations predictions? Well, thankfully, my predictions of an Irish Grand Slam remains on course - just - but both Ed Malyon and Jack Austin are looking up against it early on after backing Scotland to make some moves this year.
Still, there's plenty of time to turn things around!
Turning back to our main event today, England have an unfamiliar name lining up at No 8 in the form of Sam Simmonds.
The Exeter Chiefs back-row has been one of the form players in the Premiership this season and has taken his chance with England with both hands. With Billy Vunipola and Nathan Hughes out injured, Simmonds is likely to get a solid run in the England team, and Steve Borthwick, the England forwards' coach, explained yesterday why it is an exciting prospect.
Let's take a closer look at Ben Te'o.
The New Zealand-born centre made his debut in the autumn of 2016, and scored the crucial try that saw England past France in this tournament last year. That led to his first international start against Italy in the named 'Ruckgate' encounter last season, and Italy's tactics that day knocked England off their stride and prevented the Worcester Warriors back of seeing much ball.
But he did enough to force his way onto the British and Irish Lions tour, and was very much the bolter of the series as he forced his way into the Test side for the First Test against the All Blacks, though he was dropped to the bench for the remaining two Tests to accommodate the Johnny Sexton-Owen Farrell partnership.
He's has to wait patiently this season though, as shoulder and ankle injuries have limited him to just seven club appearances, but he's proven his fitness to Eddie Jones and is given a big chance to impress here.
So what's at stake for Italy? Well, they certainly have plenty to aim for, having finished last year's Six Nations bottom of the pile.
Conor O'Shea has been bullish in his belief that Italy are the weakest of all six nations involved, but has also stressed that his side have more than a chance as long as they can execute their game plan and knock the opposition of theirs.
Unless that happens though, another wooden spoon looks on the cards for the Italians.
And what's at stake for England? Well, in one word: history.
England can become the first nations to win the championship outright three times consecutively, and it's a feat that Eddie Jones has set his sights on.
But not just that, and not just his desire to win the World Cup next year, Jones also has another plan. The head coach signed a two-year contract extension last month to stay with England until 2021, and he has is determined to leave a legacy with the national team before he eventually departs.
TEAMSItaly: M Minozzi; T Benvenuti, T Boni, T Castello, M Bellini; T Allan, M Violi; A Lovotti, L Ghiraldini, S Ferrari, A Zanni, D Budd, S Negri, R Giammarioli, S Parisse
Replacements: L Bigi, N Quaglio, T Pasquali, G Biagi, M Mbanda, E Gori, E Canna, J Hayward
England: M Brown; A Watson, B Te’o, O Farrell, J May; G Ford, B Youngs; M Vunipola, D Hartley, D Cole; J Launchbury, M Itoje; C Lawes, C Robshaw, S Simmonds.
Replacements: J George, A Hepburn, H Williams, G Kruis, S Underhill, D Care, J Joseph, J Nowell.
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