Chessum poised to make his England debut against Italy
TIGERS SCRUM-HALF YOUNGS EXPECTED TO EQUAL LEONARD’S RECORD OF 114 CAPS
OLLIE Chessum is set to become the latest Leicester Tigers player to be capped by England after being named on the bench for tomorrow’s Six Nations clash in Italy (3pm), writes Bobby Bridge.
The 21-year-old forward, below, was called up by Eddie Jones for the tournament after an impressive contribution to Tigers’ start to the season, featuring in 14 of their opening 17 games.
He has been named among the replacements for the trip to Rome, alongside clubmates George Ford and Ben Youngs, who could become the joint most-capped England men’s player of all time, alongside Jason Leonard.
Youngs made his debut against Scotland in March 2010 and is in line to add to his 113 caps tomorrow.
Freddie Steward and Ellis Genge, who is a vice-captain, go from the start for a second week running following the opening round defeat to Scotland. For the second week running, there’s no place in the matchday squad for Tigers tighthead prop Joe Heyes.
Bath’s Will Stuart is handed a start with Bristol’s Kyle Sinckler named among the replacements.
If Chessum arrives from the bench, he will become the seventh Tigers player to debut for England in the past 12 months, following Steward, Heyes, George Martin, Dan Kelly, Nic Dolly and Harry Wells.
Jones has brought in Bristol’s
Harry Randall to start with Jack Nowell and Max Malins on the wings, with Joe Marchant moved to outside centre.
Head coach Jones said: “We’ve set ourselves the target of playing really well and lighting up Rome.
“We’ve made some changes and this is the best side to face Italy. We want to start fast and take the game to them.
“They can be a dangerous team and have some very good players in the likes of Garbisi, Negri and Lamaro.
“It’s been a difficult week, but the players have bounced back well, trained hard and are ready to put on a good performance on Sunday.”
ENGLAND XV:
14. Max Malins (Saracens, 11 caps)
13. Joe Marchant (Harlequins, 8 caps)
12. Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs, 44 caps) (vc)
11. Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs, 35 caps)
10. Marcus Smith (Harlequins, 6 caps)
9. Harry Randall (Bristol Bears, 2 caps)
1. Ellis Genge (Leicester Tigers, 32 caps) (vc)
2. Jamie George (Saracens, 62 caps)
3. Will Stuart (Bath Rugby, 16 caps)
4. Charlie Ewels (Bath Rugby, 27 caps)
5. Nick Isiekwe (Saracens, 4 caps)
6. Maro Itoje (Saracens, 52 caps)
7. Tom Curry (Sale Sharks, 37 caps) (c)
8. Alex Dombrandt (Harlequins, 5 caps)
FINISHERS:
16. Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs, 32 caps) (VC)
17. Joe Marler (Harlequins, 75 caps)
18. Kyle Sinckler (Bristol Bears, 48 caps)
19. Ollie Chessum (Leicester Tigers, uncapped)
20. Sam Simmonds (Exeter Chiefs, 10 caps)
21. Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers, 113 caps)
22. George Ford (Leicester Tigers, 78 caps)
23. Elliot Daly (Saracens, 53 caps)