England drop Marcus Smith to bench as Henry Slade axed for Italy clash

England head coach Steve Borthwick has dropped Marcus Smith to the bench for the Six Nations clash with Italy, with Henry Slade also missing out in a refreshed backline.

Smith had started England’s last 10 Tests, including the last two at full-back with Fin Smith brought in to Borthwick’s side at fly half.

But ahead of the round four fixture at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham, the Harlequin drops on to the bench as veteran Elliot Daly is given a recall to the starting side.

Fraser Dingwall, meanwhile, steps in for Slade in the centres, and hooker Jamie George is promoted to the starting hooker’s shirt on the occasion of his 100th cap.

“I'm looking forward to seeing Marcus Smith enter the game against tiring defenders,” Borthwick explained. “I think he’ll be looking forward to that. I think you'll have seen the impact Elliot Daly has had off the bench in recent games.

“I'm excited to see Fraser go. He's been such a consistent, high-level performer in the Premiership.

“He played well for us at the start of last year and has been working hard for an opportunity. Fraser's a really smart player. He's a really intelligent rugby player.

“And I think he makes other players around him play better because of his presence. That's the type of player he is. He does a lot of that unseen work.

“And that's what I'm asking him to do this weekend in England.”

The forward pack is otherwise unchanged from the one that began against Scotland, with Tom Willis on track to return after a concussion and Tom Curry fully fit after suffering a dead leg in the Calcutta Cup clash.

Borthwick again opts for a six forwards to two backs bench split, with scrum half Jack van Poortvliet joining Marcus Smith in providing cover behind the scrum.

Though he has been a stalwart in squads ever since, and featured regularly on the wing, Daly is selected to start at full-back for the first time since the 2021 Six Nations. He has been deployed there often for Saracens this season.

England XV to face Italy at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham (3pm GMT, Sunday 9 March): 1 Ellis Genge; 2 Jamie George, 3 Will Stuart; 4 Maro Itoje (capt.), 5 Ollie Chessum; 6 Tom Curry, 7 Ben Earl, 8 Tom Willis; 9 Alex Mitchell, 10 Fin Smith; 11 Ollie Sleightholme, 12 Fraser Dingwall, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 14 Tommy Freeman; 15 Elliot Daly.

Replacements: 16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Fin Baxter, 18 Joe Heyes, 19 Ted Hill, 20 Chandler Cunningham-South, 21 Ben Curry; 22 Jack van Poortvliet, 23 Marcus Smith.