Italy v England: Six Nations 2026 – live

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Ben Earl walks out onto the pitch by himself on the occasion of his 50th Test.

Rome looks delicious! The only stadium in the competition I’ve yet to visit.

Loads of England fans in attendance. A lack of support won’t be an excuse for them.

Does regular contributor Guy Hornsby speak for all England fans?

“I am not full of confidence today, Daniel. We are coming to this in semi-disarray, falling apart off the back of our 12 match run, now a distant memory. Against a team on the up full of excellent players, there are so many big battles, no more so than their centre partnership. You feel Brex and Menoncello v Atkinson and Freeman could decide it. Atkinson is a huge talent but what a way to come back into the team. Freeman is arguably one of our best players, but a work in progress at 13. If their defence falters, we could get torn open. You feel the battle up front will go a long way to deciding it, but make no mistake: on form, Italy winning will be no shock. England have a mountain to climb. A gritty win today will be just fine with many England fans.”

Update on England's team

With Tom Curry injuring himself during the warm-up, Sam Underhill will start.

Chandler Cunningham-South moves to the bench.

That changes the complexity of England’s second half. Underhill won’t feel like a major departure from Curry but Cunningham-South is a different sort of athlete. Along with Ollie Chessum England’s bench now looks pretty hefty. Curious to see if that makes a difference.

England: 15 Elliot Daly; 14 Tom Roebuck, 13 Tommy Freeman, 12 Seb Atkinson, 11 Cadan Murley; 10 Fin Smith, 9 Ben Spencer; 1 Ellis Genge, 2 Jamie George, 3 Joe Heyes, 4 Maro Itoje, 5 Alex Coles, 6 Guy Pepper, 7 Sam Underhill , 8 Ben Earl.

Replacements: 16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Bevan Rodd, 18 Trevor Davison, 19 Ollie Chessum, 20 Chandler Cunningham-South 21 Henry Pollock, 22 Jack Van Poortvliet, 23 Marcus Smith

The crows have been circling, the wolves have been howling, the omens have been, well, ominous.

Here’s some reading as we build up:

Michael Aylwin wonders if this is Italy’s best chance:

Ugo Monye says that England’s secret weapon ain’t so secret anymore:

Robert Kitson argues that fresh faces could make the difference:

And Gerard Meagher heard from Jamie George:

Underhill slots into the starting team.

Now a question of who moves onto the bench.

Tom Curry limps off before kick-off!

The mood has darkened ahead of the opening whistle as Tom Curry hobbles off with an injury during warm-up.

Sam Underhill will start. Chandler Cunningham-South will move to the bench.

We’ve had our first correspondenc and it’s from Paul Moody who is in Brazil.

“[I’ve got] mixed feelings as a London born fella. Had hopes for England , but they have met reality hard. Still hope excitement,

Canoa quebrada, ceara”

England team

Steve Borthwick has made nine changes to his team, more than any other England coach in the Six Nations.

Tommy Freeman is the only backline player to keep his place in the starting team but he’s been shifted to outside centre, joining Seb Atkinson who has been tasked with providing punch in midfield.

Elliot Daly starts at fullback with Fin Smith replacing George Ford – who misses out entirely – at fly-half. Ben Spencer replaces the injured Alex Mitchell at scrum-half.

The back row still looks light with Ben Earl and Tom Curry joined by Guy Pepper. Henry Pollock moves back to his usual spot on the bench.

Ollie Chessum’s on the wood too, alongside Sam Underhill and Marcus Smith.

England: 15 Elliot Daly; 14 Tom Roebuck, 13 Tommy Freeman, 12 Seb Atkinson, 11 Cadan Murley; 10 Fin Smith, 9 Ben Spencer; 1 Ellis Genge, 2 Jamie George, 3 Joe Heyes, 4 Maro Itoje, 5 Alex Coles, 6 Guy Pepper, 7 Tom Curry, 8 Ben Earl.

Replacements: 16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Bevan Rodd, 18 Trevor Davison, 19 Ollie Chessum, 20 Sam Underhill, 21 Henry Pollock, 22 Jack Van Poortvliet, 23 Marcus Smith

Italy team

Juan Ignacio Brex returns to the midfield to continue his union with Tommaso Menoncello.

Alessandro Garbisi starts at scrum-half to partner his brother, Paolo, in. the half-backs.

Ange Cappuozzo is out of the match-day 23 with Tommaso Allan starting ont he bench and. Lorenzo Pani returning to fullback.

For the fourth game in a row, Italy’s starting pack remains the same.

Italy: 15 Lorenzo Pani; 14 Louis Lynagh, 13 Juan Ignacio Brex, 12 Tommaso Menoncello, 11 Monty Ioane; 10 Paolo Garbisi, 9 Alessandro Garbisi; 1 Danilo Fischetti, 2 Giacomo Nicotera, 3 Simone Ferrari, 4 Niccolo Cannone, 5 Andrea Zambonin, 6 Michele Lamaro, 7 Manuel Zuliani, 8 Lorenzo Cannone.

Replacements: 16 Tommaso Di Bartolomeo, 17 Mirco Spagnolo, 18 Muhamed Hasa, 19 Federico Ruzza, 20 Riccardo Favretto, 21 Alessandro Fusco, 22 Leonardo Marin, 23 Tommaso Allan

Scotland have just put 50 on France!

Unreal. Of course that means nothing for our game here, but it underlines how bonkers this year’s Six Nations has been.

Anything could happen.

Preamble

From October 1991 until kick-off this afternoon, matches between England and Italy have been a forgone conclusion.

The two nations have met 32 times and England have triumphed on every occasion. The average score is around 40 points to 13. There have been drubbings of 67-7 in 1999, 80-23 in 2001 and 57-14 in 2019. Things have been tighter recently, and the last match in Rome ended with a three point margin, but the story has followed a predictable plot for 35 years.

That could change today.

England are on the ropes after heavy losses to Scotland and Ireland. Steve Borthwick has made sweeping changes to his team, more than any other England coach in Six Nations history. His players have looked disjointed, out of sorts and short of confidence.

Italy meanwhile have continued to impress. They fought hard to beat Scotland in a downpour and have been the only side in the first three rounds to provide something resembling a challenge to the French. They have arguably the best centre pair in the game, have astute operators in the halfbacks and now possess a pack that can mix it in heavy traffic.

England should still win. I’d be surprised if they don’t. Then again I wouldn’t be totally shocked if they fall to a third loss on the bounce. Not simply because of their own spluttering form but because their hosts have never been in a better position to finally complete the set in the Six Nations.

That’s a lot of words to admit I don’t know which way this is going. If you’ve got any clue please drop me an email. I’d love some help untangling this conundrum.

Kick-off at 4:40 pm GMT, 5:40 pm in Rome.

Teams and other updates to follow.