Italy match gives Eddie chance to play Lawrence

IT sounds as if there will be changes in the England midfield for the game against Italy in the final round of the 2020 Six Nations, following George Ford’s likely absence in Rome due to an Achilles problem.

- JEREMY GUSCOTT

My call would be to go out on a limb and select Ollie Lawrence at inside centre to see if he can bring some of the dynamism and power that England have lost with Manu Tuilagi also ruled out by injury.

There’s been so much chat about Lawrence that it makes sense to see if he can live up to it, and even though he would be making his debut in Italy, rather than at Twickenham, he will have the benefit of real experience either side of him with Owen Farrell at fly-half and Henry Slade at 13.

Having played against them, the Worcester Warriors centre will have huge respect for what they’ve achieved, and it should make his transition into the England side easier.

Slade has been outstanding for most of this season, and while Farrell will have been without a game for almost two months following his ban for a high tackle, he will almost certainly captain the side, and is the sort of player that doesn’t have to be 100 per cent match-fit to get him through a game.

The tough thing for Lawrence will be that he comes into a team that will be rusty after seven months between matches, and it is therefore likely to make its fair share of mistakes.

However, like the rest of the England side, Lawrence will have to put any errors behind him quickly to concentrate on beating Italy by as many points as possible, making it very difficult for either Ireland of France to beat them to the Six Nations title.