Owen Farrell and Brad Barritt retain places in England XV for Italy showdown
Saracens pair part of an unchanged England XV
SARACENS duo Owen Farrell and Brad Barritt have retained their places in the England XV for this weekend’s RBS 6 Nations clash with Italy.
The pair made their England’s bows in last weekend’s 13-6 Calcutta Cup victory over Scotland and are part of an unchanged starting XV for this weekend’s game in Rome.
Former St George’s School pupil Farrell kicked eight points on debut while University of Herts student Barritt impressed in midfield with his hard-hitting approach.
England’s interim head coach Stuart Lancaster said: “We have decided to leave the starting team the same to allow them more time to get together, and we are expecting the bench to come on and make an impact as they did last week.”
That means fellow Saracens David Strettle, Charlie Hodgson and Mourtiz Botha also start in Rome with another, Matt Stevens, named among the replacements.
England: Foden; Ashton, Barritt, Farrell, Strettle; Hodgson, Youngs; Dowson, Robshaw, Croft; Palmer, Botha; Cole, Hartley, Corbisiero.
Most Read
- 1 Moped crashes with pedestrian on St Peter's Street
- 2 Birch tree roots battle for St Albans neighbour
- 3 Woman in her 60s seriously injured in St Peter's Street crash
- 4 Club night revival in St Albans
- 5 St Albans woman stops British Grand Prix at Silverstone
- 6 Hitchin & Harpenden MP Bim Afolami resigns as Tory vice chair live on air
- 7 Teenager's arm broken during 'metal pole attack'
- 8 Woman assaulted by teenage boys in Hemel Hempstead underpass
- 9 Man stabbed in St Albans
- 10 St Albans MP reacts to new hospitals probe
Replacements: Webber, Stevens, Parling, Morgan, Dickson, Turner-Hall, Brown.
