Joseph and Kruis get first Twickenham starts

Feb 12 • General News, International, Six Nations • 1755 Views • Comments Off on Joseph and Kruis get first Twickenham starts

JONATHAN JOSEPH (Bath Rugby) and George Kruis (Saracens) will get their first Twickenham starts in an unchanged England side to face Italy on Saturday (2.30pm, BBC 1).

The XV that defeated Wales 21-16 at the Millennium Stadium will start England’s first home match of the RBS 6 Nations, with the same replacements also named.

England Head Coach Stuart Lancaster: “It’s always good to be able to name an unchanged team and to build some consistency. We did the same last year after France heading into the Scotland game.

“Italy are going to be fired up, they always are when they come to Twickenham, especially after last week’s loss to Ireland. We know what’s coming at us but we have prepared well and are looking forward to getting back home and playing in front of our fantastic supporters.”

England
15. Mike Brown (Harlequins, 34 caps)
14. Anthony Watson (Bath Rugby, 5 caps)
13. Jonathan Joseph (Bath Rugby, 7 caps)
12. Luther Burrell (Northampton Saints, 8 caps)
11. Jonny May (Gloucester Rugby, 12 caps)
10. George Ford (Bath Rugby, 7 caps)
9. Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers, 43 caps)

1. Joe Marler (Harlequins, 27 caps)
2. Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints, 62 caps)
3. Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers, 46 caps)
4. Dave Attwood (Bath Rugby, 17 caps)
5. George Kruis (Saracens, 5 caps)
6. James Haskell (Wasps, 54 caps)
7. Chris Robshaw (captain, Harlequins, 33 caps)
8. Billy Vunipola (Saracens, 13 caps)Replacements

16. Tom Youngs (Leicester Tigers, 18 caps)
17. Mako Vunipola (Saracens, 16 caps)
18. Kieran Brookes (Newcastle Falcons, 7 caps)
19. Nick Easter (Harlequins, 48 caps)
20. Tom Croft (Leicester Tigers, 38 caps)
21. Richard Wigglesworth (Saracens, 17 caps)
22. Danny Cipriani (Sale Sharks, 9 caps)
23. Billy Twelvetrees (Gloucester Rugby, 17 caps)