Buoyed by their impressive performance against Wales last weekend, England will head into Saturday's meeting with Italy feeling in high spirits as they look to make it two wins from two in this year's Six Nations.
The Red Rose's campaign got off to a shaky start when they fell 10-0 behind early on in Cardiff seven days ago, but tries from Anthony Watson and Jonathan Joseph helped secure a memorable 21-16 win at the Millennium Stadium.
Stuart Lancaster has perhaps unsurprisingly named an unchanged side for the visit of Italy, meaning a first Twickenham start for hero of the hour Joseph, along with lock George Kruis who will also be afforded a place in the starting XV.
England were heavily plagued by injury problems heading into that match against Wales, although with a far healthier selection of players to chose from, Lancaster has resisted the temptation to recall Kyle Eastmond and Brad Barritt as he instead sticks with a winning formula.
Since the 45-year-old took over as manager of the national side in 2012, England have finished second on each occasion in this tournament, something which he will be keen to rectify with the World Cup on home soil fast approaching.
This weekend offers a chance to rack up some points at home against the current wooden spoon holders, who are looking more towards damage limitation rather than springing a surprise in London.
Jacques Brunel has made four changes to the side that lost against Ireland last weekend, with Mauro Bergamasco in line to earn cap number 101 for the Azzurri.
Somewhat ominously, Italy have never defeated England in a Test match, and with their opponents in confident spirits at the moment that appears highly unlikely to change this time around.
To Italy's credit, it took champions Ireland a full hour to break them down last week for their first try, although the second followed just a minute or so later in a 26-3 reverse.
They will have to remain compact if they are to avoid a similar thrashing to the one they faced 12 months ago against England, when the Red Rose came out on top 52-11 at the Stadio Olimpico.
England are not quite a ruthless machine at the same level as New Zealand and South Africa at this stage, but victory tomorrow will put them in good stead to push on and secure a Grand Slam triumph in what could be a truly historic year.
England:
Recent form: WWWLLL
Starting lineup: Mike Brown, Anthony Watson, Jonathan Joseph, Luther Burrell, Jonny May, George Ford, Ben Youngs, Joe Marler, Dylan Hartley, Dan Cole, David Attwood, George Kruis, James Haskell, Chris Robshaw, Billy Vunipola
Italy:
Recent form: LLLWLL
Starting lineup: Luke McLean, Leonardo Sarto, Luca Morisi, Andrea Masi, Giovambattista Venditti, Kelly Haimona, Edoardo Gori, Sergio Parisse, Francesco Minto, Mauro Bergamasco, Marco Bortolami, George Fabio Biagi, Martin Castrogiovanni, Leonardo Ghiraldini, Alberto de Marchi
Sports Mole says: 28-6
No Data Analysis info
