Brive centre Riki
Flutey has been named in England's starting XV against
Italy after recovering from the thigh injury which sidelined
him for the victory over Wales.
Flutey is one of two
changes made by manager Martin Johnson, with prop Dan Cole
also coming in after David Wilson picked up a shoulder
injury. Flutey replaces Toby Flood at 12.
Captain Steve
Borthwick, who impressed against Wales, was named in the
second row despite missing two days of training, while Simon
Shaw and Lewis Moody have both recovered from minor knocks.
England will be looking
for another dominant performance from their back-row trio of
James Haskell, Nick Easter and Moody.
Haskell was the
Man-of-the-Match against Wales after claiming his first two
tries in an England shirt, but he was effusive in his praise
of Moody and Easter afterwards.
"Personally I thought
Nick Easter - or 'The Dominator' as he likes to be known -
deserved it [Man-of-the-Match]. And Moody again showed his
quality. You know from those two guys that you are going to
get a very physical, determined edge and I just slot in
behind them," said Haskell.
"I was lucky to be on
the end of a couple of tries but Nick was outstanding and
Lewis was too. I'd hate to play against Lewis because he is
just so physical, so destructive and puts his body on the
line like no other player I know," added the Stade Francais
flanker.
Haskell also credited his summer move to Stade for his
current good form, despite the player being widely vilified
at the time for his decision. "When I went there I wanted to
come back and be a better player for England. I feel
justified in what I've done, I've learned my role in the
team. It's the maturity I took from having to move there on
my own. I got written off in every quarter.
"People thought I was
throwing my England chances away. All I've done is work
hard. It's a quieter life over there. I wanted to change my
lifestyle and the way I approached the game. I found a new
impetus. I was thrown in the deep end. Now I wake up, train,
go home, relax, explore Paris and that's all there is," he
added.
Fellow France-based
colleague Jonny Wilkinson - who kicked six out of six
goal attempts against Scotland - was also delighted with the
victory. "It was a big step," said the Toulon fly-half. "Not
succumbing to the swing in the second half was a big step
forward for us. We need to maintain that," he added.
England starting XV: D Armitage (London Irish); M
Cueto (Sale Sharks), M Tait (Sale Sharks),
R Flutey
(Brive), U Monye (Harlequins);
J Wilkinson
(Toulon), D Care (Harlequins); T Payne (Wasps), D
Hartley (Northampton), D Cole (Leicester Tigers), S Shaw (Wasps), S
Borthwick (Saracens, capt),
J Haskell (Stade
Francais), L Moody (Leicester), N Easter
(Harlequins).
