How England will likely line-up to face Italy in 2025 Six Nations

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Last night, England head coach Steve Borthwick issued an update to his squad, with 29 players convening up in their Yorkshire training base. Following the trend of the first fallow week in the 2025 Guinness Men's Six Nations, we can use our expert detective work to deduce that this crop of players will likely include the side to feature against Italy. England had a similarly smaller training group a fortnight ago, for a mini-training week ahead of their preparations for the Scotland Test.

There is an assortment of injuries to address, with the intensity of the Six Nations now taking a toll upon Steve Borthwick's squad. The trio of Tom Curry, Ollie Lawrence and Ben Earl will not be in York, as England have modified their respective training weights after three intensive weeks of action. The three players are all expected to be fully involved with the squad for the Italy Test week, and are well in contention for the fourth round clash with the Azzurri.

Tom Willis is currently undergoing his Gradual Return To Play protocol, after sustaining a head injury in the win over Scotland. Willis was withdrawn from the fray just before the half-time break, after coming worse off from a nasty clash of heads with Ellis Genge. After missing out on the Scotland match with a knee injury, George Martin will also miss the training camp in York, as he is undergoing further specialist tests. England will assess the Leicester Tigers lock next week, before deciding on whether he gets the green light for the Italy training week.

Forwards:
Fin Baxter (Harlequins), Ollie Chessum (Leicester Tigers), Alex Coles (Northampton Saints), Luke Cowan-Dickie (Sale Sharks), Chandler Cunningham-South (Harlequins), Ben Curry (Sale Sharks), Theo Dan (Saracens), Alex Dombrandt (Harlequins), Ellis Genge (Bristol Bears), Jamie George (Saracens), Joe Heyes (Leicester Tigers), Ted Hill (Bath Rugby), Maro Itoje (Saracens), Henry Pollock (Northampton Saints), Will Stuart (Bath Rugby)

Backs:
Oscar Beard (Harlequins), Elliot Daly (Saracens), Fraser Dingwall (Northampton Saints), George Ford (Sale Sharks), Tommy Freeman (Northampton Saints), Alex Mitchell (Northampton Saints), Harry Randall (Bristol Bears), Tom Roebuck (Sale Sharks), Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs), Ollie Sleightholme (Northampton Saints)
Fin Smith (Northampton Saints), Marcus Smith (Harlequins), Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers), Jack van Poortvliet (Leicester Tigers)

We commence the predicted starting team with an unchanged back-three, with the trio of Marcus Smith, Tommy Freeman and Ollie Sleightholme expected to lead from the off against Italy. Smith has been excellent in commandeering the back-field in the absence of George Furbank, with the latest reports from Borthwick being hopeful at best for the Northampton man's return. Furbank broke his arm in December, with the chances of a Six Nations return dwindling as the weeks pass by.

Freeman was in the spotlight of England's attacking efforts against Scotland, as the Northampton wing scored the sole try for Steve Borthwick's side. However, the grounding of Freeman's try was not the most straigfht-forward of clear and obvious scores, with the flyer hoping for more clear-cut tries in a week's time against Italy. Partnering Freeman will again likly be Ollie Sleightholme, to reinforce the green, black and gold influence upon the English back-line.

Sleightholme's presence is all the more expected, as Immanuel Feyi-Waboso is now undergoing his shoulder opporation. The Exeter wing had initially decided to forego the sergury, in the hopes of a late Six Nations invovlement to bolster his British & Irish Lions tour hopes. However, Feyi-Waboso re-injured the shoulder in an England testing session, with his period on the side-lines predicted to run through into the coming months. It's a tough blow for Manny, with Sleightholme expected to make the most of the Chiefs man's absence from the England squad.

Our first predicted change to the match day squad, sees an alteration in the centres of Steve Borthwick's side. Fraser Dingwall could well get the nod to start against Italy, with Ollie Lawrence awarded a well deserved rest from the Test match stage. Lawrence has been immense in the championship thus far, with the signs of a precautionary omission presented in his exclusion from the York training squad.

Dingwall has been in and around the England squad since the Autumn Nations Series, yet the Saints man was unable to break-up Borthwick's preferred midfield pairing of Henry Slade and Ollie Lawrence. Dingwall went on to captain England A to their November win over Australia A, and would be the next man in line to fill up a vacancy in the centre shirts.

Whilst Italy are by no means the guaranteed wooden-spooners anymore, Borthwick could take the chance to rest some top starters as his side head to the Allianz Stadium as heavy favourites. The England head coach could be set to sit the Bath man out against Italy, before bringing Lawrence back in for the all-important final round battle with Wales.

We predict an unchanged halfback partnership once again, with Fin Smith and Alex Mitchell bringing their Premiership winning partnership forward from Northampton and onto the England stage. Mitchell has been tremendous since returning to the England squad, as the scrum half battled back from an extended sit-out on the side-lines with a neck injury. Mitchell showcased his box-kicking talents last weekend, as Scotland brought an areal battle to the Allianz, which the Saints man was more than able to take on.

Fin Smith has had plenty of plaudits written about him throughout the past month, with the Saints man taking the opportunity to be England's leading man with both hands. The injury to his Saints teammate George Furbank has had a butterfly effect upon Smith's England run, as Marcus Smith has dropped in at 15, with the door open for Fin to make his mark upon the 10 mantle. An exquisite penalty from just inside Scotland's half-way line was Fin's finest effort last Saturday, with the 22-year-old hopeful for a third consecutive win as England's starting fly half.

Onto the forward pack now, and the front row has become England's most consistent element since the start of the 2025 Guinness Men's Six Nations. The decision to alter Jamie George's role from being England's starting hooker to an off-the-bench impact player, has been a stroke of genius from Steve Borthwick. Whilst the Saracen may have lost the armband of being England captain, George has taken his leadership role into the latter stages of the match to help carry his side home for the hard-fought wins.

Luke Cowan-Dickie has become the resident starter in George's absence, with the Sale Sharks man making good on every opportunity in the two jersey. Cowan-Dickie is emptying the tank within his 50 minute fun-outs, and we expect Borthwick to utilise this tactic once more against the Italians. The props will also most likely go unchanged against Italy, with Ellis Genge and Will Stuart set to retain their respective starting shirts.

Fin Baxter and Joe Heyes have also been included in the York training camp, with the Harlequins and Leicester Tigers front rowers expected to once again explode off the bench in Twickenham. Despite the excitement around the likes of Asher Opoku-Fordjour and Afo Fasogbon, the two highly rated graduates of the England U20s squad will not travel up to Yorkshire, which could well hinder their chances for an appearance against Italy in 10 day's time.

The first man on Steve Borthwick's teamsheet will continue to be Maro Itoje, with the England captain out to make it three wins on the bounce as captain at the Allianz Stadium. The lock has returned to the form that first put him on the map, with the natural born leader not phased by his newfound responsibilities as England captain. Itoje is expected to lead in another 80-minute outing, for when the Italians come to town and try to upset the Allianz apple cart.

We've predicted a change to England's second row, with Ted Hill backed for his first ever England start as we peered into the crystal ball. The Bath man has been in phenomenal form in blue, black and white, and has been a mainstay of the England training squads, despite struggling to make a breakthrough upon the match day 23. The man whom Maro Itoje compared to Superman's Clark Kent, got his break in England's win over Scotland as George Martin withdrew from the squad the Thursday before the match.

Hill had a brief cameo appearance off the bench against Scotland, as he replaced Ollie Chessum in the last few minutes of the match. This saw Hill earn his third ever England cap, and the 25-year-old could well get the nod for next Sunday, with some changes expected to England's team to face Italy. It would be a nice pay-off for all of Hill's tireless work in the training camp, and the versatile forward would be a popular start for England fans that have long called for his Test match inclusion.

BACK ROW

The hardest area of the England squad to predict is once again the back row, and it's been made all the more difficult as Tom Curry, Tom Willis and Ben Earl are all missing the York training camp. An expected omission for the Italy match would be Tom Willis, as after sustaining a head injury and with such depth in his back row, Borthwick does not need to risk the Saracen for the clash with Gonzalo Quesada's side.

By all reports, Tom Curry only sustained a dead leg against Scotland, which caused the Sale man to limp out of the fray early in the second half. Thankfully Curry has not re-injured his surgically-repaired hip, and should well be back to full match fitness for the Italy Test in 10 days time. We've selected Tom Curry to start on the bench, with the newly formed partnership of his twin brother Ben and Chandler Cunningham-South starting on the flanks.

We can see Ben Earl moving back to the eight shirt for the Italy match, with Tom Curry providing an experienced covering option across the entire back row from the bench. Whilst Earl is not currently up in Yorkshire with the England squad, the Saracen has not sustained any obvious injury and is only on a rest period from the squad. We've gone for a 6-2 split on the bench, and believe that the Italy Test could be an excellent opportunity to introduce Henry Pollock to the senior England stage. The Northampton Saints man is with the England squad in York, in what is an exciting progression in the young man's hopes for an England debut.

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