George: Snarling forwards will send rivals packing
ENGLAND are ready to come out fighting again on Saturday, if that’s what it takes — as another demonstration of their unity and refusal to let opponents take liberties. Last week in Oxford, as revealed by Sportsmail, a scrummaging session against Georgia erupted into a brawl. Asked yesterday about the confrontations, England hooker Jamie George said: ‘As a pack we showed we have each other’s backs and we are tight as ever. I know for a fact that the person to my left, right and behind me have got my back, it’s definitely brought us closer together. ‘As a pack we’ll always look out for each other. If you see any white shirt being messed around with, more often than not you’ll see 15 white shirts there pretty quickly and it’s a sign we’re in a great place.’ England head coach Eddie Jones will name his team this morning for Saturday’s encounter with Italy at Twickenham, with Joe Cokanasiga, Ben Te’o, Joe Launchbury, Dan Cole and Dan Robson in contention for the starting XV. Maro Itoje and Jack Nowell are set to miss the game with minor injuries but defence coach John Mitchell said: ‘We’ll give Maro every chance to make the weekend. We’d like him to be there — he’s a bloody good player.’