England have made sweeping changes for Sunday’s Six Nations showdown with Italy led by Harry Randall replacing Ben Youngs at scrum-half.
Over half the team that fell to a 20-17 Calcutta Cup defeat by Scotland in round one have been removed from the starting XV or changed position as they head for Rome with the aim of avoiding any further setbacks.
Randall, an electric runner with an eye for space, makes his third start for his country and will be given the task of raising the tempo against Italy, who have lost their previous 33 matches in the tournament dating back to 2015.
Demoted to the bench, Youngs must hope to equal Jason Leonard’s England cap record of 114 as a replacement knowing he can then surpass the milestone against Wales at Twickenham on February 26.
“We’ve been really pleased with Harry. Ben started for us against Scotland last weekend and we’ve just reversed the roles,” head coach Eddie Jones said.
“Harry’s a livewire half-back, he’s very good in broken play. He’s got a good solid pass on him and his kicking game is improving.”
Jones has challenged his side to “light up Rome” and they will attempt to fulfil his wishes with a new centre combination after Joe Marchant was switched from the left wing to 13, forcing Elliot Daly on to the bench.
Jack Nowell follows up his brief cameo in Edinburgh by filling the vacancy on the wing as his comeback from a terrible run of injuries gathers pace.
“Joe is a good strong runner. He can hit the front line really well, which we maybe missed a little bit last weekend,” Jones said.
“Given that he had such restricted training before Scotland it was difficult for him to play 13 last week, so Elliot will move back as a finisher.
“Jack Nowell has had three solid weeks of training with us and we feel he’s ready to play. He has that work rate, that bounce in his step. I haven’t seen him this sharp since 2016.”
The pack is subjected to the most extensive surgery with Luke Cowan-Dickie dropping to the bench after conceding a crucial penalty try at Murrayfield, allowing Jamie George to take over at hooker.
Jones, however, stated that Cowan-Dickie’s relegation to a supporting role is because he has been unable to train fully this week rather his costly blunder against Scotland.
Will Stuart is given a run out at tighthead prop in place of Kyle Sinckler and there is an appearance for Charlie Ewels in the second row where he will partner Nick Isiekwe.
A rejigged back row sees Alex Dombrandt replace Sam Simmonds at number eight and Maro Itoje take over from rib-injury victim Lewis Ludlam at blindside flanker.
“When we look at the team we try to maximise our resources. Sam Simmonds played very well at number eight but we’re going to finish with him against Italy,” Jones said.
“We want to see Alex Dombrandt play in a game that we think will really suit him. Italy tend to be more open and unstructured type games so we feel that it’s a great game for him to start at number eight.
“Tom Curry picks himself at seven and then we’ve gone for a big six. We want to get a bit more running out of Maro in terms of his attack and this is a great opportunity for him.”
Leicester forward Ollie Chessum could make his debut off the bench as second or back-row cover.
