Six Nations 2014: Italy v England, Where to Watch Live, Preview and Team News
Follow live coverage of Italy v England here
Italy host England on the final weekend of the 2014 Six Nations championship
Where to Watch Live
Italy v England kicks off at 12:30pm and is live on BBC One and BBC One HD on Saturday 15 March. Live commentary is on BBC Radio 5 Live or Sports Extra.
Preview
Stuart Lancaster's England side face the tough task of playing first on Saturday afternoon without being in full knowledge of what is required to claim a first Six Nations title since 2011.
France face Ireland in Paris in the evening kick-off but anything short of a narrow win against Italy, who are destined for the Wooden Spoon, would see England out of the running before kick-off in the French capital.
Should England secure a victory in excess of 50 points that would see them eclipse Ireland's points difference of +81, Joe Schmidt's side would be forced to keep an eye on the scoreboard at the Stade de France.
After claiming a first Triple Crown since 2033 Lancaster has made just one change which sees Mako Vunipola replace Joe Marler while he also welcomes back Manu Tuilagi on the bench ahead of Alex Goode.
Italy are searching for their first Six Nations win over England and recalled captain Sergio Parisse as the Azzurri go in search of their first victory of the Championship.
After claiming two wins in 2013, Italy have struggled to recapture the same form this year and were overwhelmed by Ireland in Dublin last weekend and risk ending their campaign with a whimper following so much expectation.
What the Coaches Say
Jacques Brunel: "England is a formidable challenge, first of all because of their physicality. You know when you've played against England, because you feel it the next day.
"England are coming to Rome to win the tournament, but they also have to hope results elsewhere go their way. With Ireland so far in front, they need a lot of points against us."
Stuart Lancaster: "It's a fantastic opportunity to finish the Six Nations on a high point. We want to make sure we put in a performance that backs up the previous performances so far and that's a big motivation for the players.
"I'm sure it will be a tight game over there [in Paris], but it's an uncontrollable for us, we've just got to concentrate on the Italians."
Teams:
Italy: 15-Luke McLean, 14-Angelo Esposito, 13-Michele Campagnaro, 12-Gonzalo Garcia, 11-Leonardo Sarto, 10-Luciano Orquera, 9-Tito Tebaldi; 1-Matias Aguero, 2-Leonardo Ghiraldini, 3-Lorenzo Cittadini, 4-Quintin Geldenhuys, 5-Marco Bortolami, 6-Joshua Furno, 7-Robert Barbieri, 8-Sergio Parisse (captain)
Replacements: 16-Davide Giazzon, 17-Michele Rizzo, 18-Alberto de Marchi, 19-George Biagi, 20-Paul Derbyshire, 21-Edoardo Gori, 22-Tommy Allan, 23-Andrea Masi
England: 15-Mike Brown,, 14-Jack Nowell, 13-Luther Burrell, 12-Billy Twelvetrees, 11-Jonny May, 10-Owen Farrell, 9-Danny Care; 1-Joe Marler, 2-Dylan Hartley, 3-David Wilson, 4-Joe Launchbury, 5-Courtney Lawes, 6-Tom Wood, 7-Chris Robshaw (captain), 8-Ben Morgan
Replacements: 16-Tom Youngs, 17-Mako Vunipola, 18-Henry Thomas, 19-Dave Attwood, 20-Tom Johnson, 21-Lee Dickson, 22-George Ford, 23-Manu Tuilagi
Title permutations:
Ireland: A points difference advantage of +81 means any win over France will likely be good enough to claim the title. England must beat Italy by more than 50 points to force Ireland to look nervously at the scoreboard.
England: Any win over Italy puts pressure on Ireland to beat France in Paris. A draw or defeat ends their Six Nations hopes while only a victory by a record points margin will force Ireland's hand.
France: Can win the title regardless of England's result in Rome but defeat for Stuart Lancaster's men means it is a straight shootout for the title in Paris. France have suffered one home defeat in 47 years to the Irish but a win for England requires a heavy victory.
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