It’s that time of year again! The 2024 Six Nations commences this weekend, and England begin their campaign with a trip to Rome’s Stadio Olympico. Steve Borthwick’s men take on Italy in their competition opener, with expectations high for England to kick-start their campaign with an impressive win.
Throughout the previous 30 meetings between the two nations, England have never been beaten by Italy. A win for the hosts would certainly be a shocking result, yet it would stamp the Azzurri’s intentions of moving from up from underdogs, to amongst the tier one Six Nations contenders. Italy have entered a new era ahead of the tournament, as Kieran Crowley has been replaced by former Argentina fly half Gonzalo Quesada as head coach.
A surprising announcement when it was first confirmed ahead of the 2023 Rugby World Cup, given the heights that Crowley had elevated Italy to in his time in charge. The New Zealander ended the Italians seven-year wait for a Six Nations win in 2022, when his side stunned Wales to close out the competition in Cardiff. They also recorded milestone first-ever wins over Australia the following Autumn, and achieved automatic qualification for the 2027 Rugby World Cup.
We enter the start of the new Rugby World Cup cycle, and Steve Borthwick’s new-look England squad certainly reflects this. Borthwick initially named seven uncapped players in his 2024 Six Nations squad, and has since added the uncapped Bath duo of Max Ojomoh and Will Muir to the wider training group. Out of the upcoming Six Nations fixtures, Borthwick could well utilise the expected victory against Italy as a golden opportunity to blood new players into the international scene, and award test match debuts to some of the most promising Premiership talents of the season.
Here is RUCK’s prediction, for Steve Borthwick’s England squad to face Italy, in the 2024 Six Nations opening round match.
BACK THREE
15. Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers)
14. Immanuel Feyi-Waboso (Exeter Chiefs)
11. Tom Roebuck (Sale Sharks)
Kicking off in the back-three, and we have selected two debutants to start on the wing, amongst an experienced England fullback. It speaks volumes of the youth of a side, when a 23-year-old is regarded amongst the ‘veteran’ heads of a starting XV, yet we can see a Freddie Steward back and firing for the test of the Azzurri. The likes of Tommaso Allan and Paolo Garbisi like putting boot to ball, and despite England’s position as favourites, they will need Steward’s defensive acumen under the high ball, to provide a solid foundation in the back-field.
We predict that two of England’s most recent acquisitions will start on the wing, much to the chagrin of Wales and Scotland fans. Cardiff-born Immanuel Feyi-Waboso and Scottish eligible Tom Roebuck could earn their England debuts, in the start of two exciting careers in the red rose. Starting with Roebuck, the Sale Sharks wing had garnered the attention of Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend ahead of his England call-up, yet was not picked to join Sale teammate Arron Reed in the Scotland squad. With six tries across all competitions this season, Roebuck is hoping to make it a ‘magnificent seven’, with a try on an England debut.
With the discussion of a return to Wales firmly in the rear-view mirror, Exeter Chiefs wing Manny Feyi-Waboso is eager to make his break-through in the upcoming Six Nations. An explosive wing with a powerful carry, Feyi-Waboso also has six tries to his name this season. The excitement continues to build around the 21-year-old, and Italy could prove to be the perfect opportunity for a first time run-out on the test match stage.
CENTRES
13. Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs)
12. Max Ojomoh (Bath Rugby)
Now, onto the centres, and what looked like the most nailed on area of Steve Borthwick’s team took a late re-shuffling last week. The go-to midfield partnership following red-hot form looked to be Bath’s Ollie Lawrence and Exeter’s Henry Slade. However, despite being named in the initial 2024 Six Nations squad, an injury set-back has caused Lawrence to withdraw from the pack, and hand an opening to his Bath teammate Max Ojomoh.
Borthwick name-dropped Ojomoh along with Harlequins centre Lennox Anyanwu, amongst the players that narrowly missed out on the initial squad selection. Yet this unfortunate twist of fate for Lawrence has presented an opportunity to his teammate, who we expect to step up for an England debut this coming Saturday.
After tearing up trees in a barn-storming season so far, we can’t look any further than Henry Slade to start in the outside centre slot. Having missed out on the 2023 Rugby World Cup, Slade returned down to Devon with an ignited sense of determination. The centre has been in phenomenal form this season, and provided numerous match-winning tries and penalty kicks, for his young gun Chiefs squad.