The Azzurri kick off their six nations home campaign against England this weekend. It should be an exciting contest and although England are the strong favourites, Italy with home advantage certainly won’t be pushovers. Read on for our full match preview with the latest team news, form, odds, information on free bets and betting tips.

RUGBY SIX NATIONS 2012 - ITALY vs ENGLAND: MATCH PREVIEWItaly were competitive against France but could not hold on and went down 30-12 but did manage to beat the handicap of +19.5 on offer. As for England, they were rather fortunate to beat Scotland in their opener after the Scots failed to capitalise on their chances.

Lancaster, who stepped in temporarily to replace the departed Martin Johnson, completely shook up the England outfit, not only shedding the old guard and replacing them with some of England’s most exciting youth, but also changed training camp setups and a new philosophy on the pitch.

Italy’s game plan was clear to see against France, they wanted to throw the ball around more in the back and try to play a more open game, not just relying on the forward power. It worked to some degree against the French, but they are lacking the talent really, especially out wide, to deliver that class and cutting edge to finish off a good game plan.



Brunel has made just the two changes to the run-on side that lost in Paris, with the experienced Marco Bortolami coming in at lock for his 90th cap, and Clermont centre Gonzalo Canale replacing Alberto Sgarbi in the midfield. Amongst three changes to the bench is the return of veteran flanker Mauro Bergamasco returning from injury to take a spot in the match 22.

Stuart Lancaster looks likely to name the same starting 15 that won at Murrayfield last weekend, which means Charlie Hodgson will continue at flyhalf despite the availability of former first-choice 10 Toby Flood. Chris Robshaw will again captain the side, hoping to further impress and stake a claim for the long-term appointment of the skipper role.

Italy's most recent home 6 Nations match was that unforgettable 22-21 win over France last year, and prior to that they'd not lost by more than 8 points against any of their fellow 6 nations teams since 2009. In their last match in Rome against England, the visitors needed late drop-goal to ensure a 17-12 win. Anyway, Italy have not beaten England in their last 18 meetings and, despite they have shown quality in patches, they cannot seem to keep that up for 80 minutes

RUGBY SIX NATIONS 2012 - ITALY vs ENGLAND: PROBABLE LINEUPSITALY: 15 Andrea Masi, 14 Giovanbattista Venditti, 13 Tommaso Benvenuti, 12 Gonzalo Canale, 11 Luke Mclean, 10 Kristopher Burton, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Sergio Parisse, 7 Robert Barbieri (Benetton Treviso, 17 caps), 6 Alessandro Zanni, 5 Marco Bortolami, 4 Quintin Geldenhuys, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Andrea Lo Cicero;
Bench: 16 Tommaso D'apice, 17 Lorenzo Cittadini, 18 Antonio Pavanello, 19 Mauro Bergamasco, 20 Fabio Semenzato, 21 Tobias Botes, 22 Luca Morisi.

ENGLAND: 15 Ben Foden, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Brad Barritt, 12 Owen Farrell, 11 David Strettle, 10 Charlie Hodgson, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Phil Dowson, 7 Chris Robshaw, 6 Tom Croft, 5 Tom Palmer, 4 Mouritz Botha, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley, 1 Alex Corbisiero.
Bench: 16 Rob Webber, 17 Matt Stevens, 18 Geoff Parling, 19 Ben Morgan, 20 Lee Dickson, 21 Jordan Turner-Hall, 22 Mike Brown.


ITALY vs ENGLAND: TEAM FORMItaly
4 Feb 2012 – France 30 Italy 12
2 Oct 2011 – Ireland 36 Italy 6
27 Sep 2011 – Italy 27 USA 10

England
4 Feb 2012 – Scotland 6 England 13
8 Oct 2011 – England 12 France 19
1 Oct 2011 – England 16 Scotland 12

ITALY vs ENGLAND: BEST ODDS

Rugby - Six Nations 2012	Best Odds	Bookie
Italy	4.33
The Draw	26.00
England	1.29

ITALY vs ENGLAND: MATCH PREDICTIONSEngland 1-10 winning margin @ 2.75
Italy +8 @ 2.00
Italy/England HT/FT @ 7.50
Total tries Over 3,5 @ 2.25



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