Tom Curry insists England must not take Italy too lightly (Image: Getty)
Tom Curry has warned his not to underestimate Italy – despite their 73-24 pummelling by the French last time out. England have not lost to the Italians since the started in 2000, the only scalp the Azzurri have not claimed in the tournament. The Red Rosers limped past them 27-24 in Rome last year and a defeat at Twickenham on Sunday would derail England’s tournament.
This time England are expected to put Italy to the sword but flanker Curry insists they are a decent outfit despite that French thrashing. Curry said: “The scoreline didn’t reflect the game, watching it back. The most dangerous thing is just that they are a very good team. I don’t think that changes because of one scoreline against a French team who can be very dangerous too.
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“The one thing we know about the Six Nations is that one game doesn’t necessarily lead into another game. It is constantly changing. It’s such a fast-moving tournament and with a two-week break between games, they can change things very quickly.”
Boss Steve Borthwick is due to announce his side on Friday but could go early by announcing it tomorrow (Wednesday) with Elliot Daly tipped to get a start at full-back. That would leave Borthwick pondering whether to drop Marcus Smith entirely from XV with Fin Smith impressive in two starts at 10 this tournament.
Fin Smith sat out the open training session in York last week but was on duty at England’s base in Bagshot today (Tuesday).