Nick Cain assesses the relative strengths and weaknesses of England and Italy

Italy have yet to beat England in the Six Nations, and, given that their only away win in the tournament since they joined it 13 seasons ago was against Scotland in 2007, they have not earned a reputation as great road warriors. However, having suffered some heavy beatings at the hands of the English early in their Six Nations journey, they have steadily become more competitive – and last year in the Roman snow they were not far away from claiming the scalp of the nation they want to beat most.
The hurdle that the Azzurri face 12 months on is that they are at Twickenham rather than the Stadio Olimpico, and England have advanced from a callow outfit with little more than an eager defensive line and an accurate goal-kicker to one with hard edges that plays with a pace and intensity that breaks opponents.
With Mako Vunipola and Tom Youngs starting in the front row, England will also aim not just to play with dynamism, but to disrupt Italy's set piece strength – and put down a marker ahead of their meeting with the vaunted Welsh scrum.
The big plus for the Italians is that with Sergio Parisse's ban for referee abuse shortened, they have a world-class player whose experience and prowess should give them a rallying point. The big minus is that they are standing in the way of an England side with their sights fixed on a Grand Slam.
 BREAKDOWN
It's difficult to see how Italy can manage to get on top in an area where England have been transformed since their win over New Zealand. The return of Parisse will help in terms of giving them forward momentum on their own ball, but it will be a revelation of biblical proportions if the Azzurri succeed in matching England's speed and accuracy in the tackle area.
It is England's sustained intensity at the breakdown which has contributed more than any other single factor to putting them within sight of a Grand Slam. It is based on every member of the squad, forward or back,
reacting urgently and forcefully in the loose, whether it's retaining the ball or turning it over. England's ball presentation and ability to clear-out and present either Ben Youngs or Danny Care with quick ball was something that  Scotland, Ireland and, eventually, France, were unable to thwart.
The pressure that England apply, whether it's winning back their own ball or competing for the opposition's, has also yielded a steady stream of penalties. Given that Italy are not renowned for their breakdown discipline, England will be hoping to turn any advantage they achieve into points.
However, Italy will not be easybeats around the tackle. Alessandro Zanni and Robert Barbieri are gnarled flankers, and young lock Joshua Furno has been brought in for his physicality and mobility. Add Parisse to the mix in the back five of the scrum and the Italian cocktail is a combination of strength and spirit.  The hitch is that the Italian backs and front row are not as breakdown savvy as their Red Rose counterparts – and England will seek to pressurise and capitalise.
RATING England 8/10  Italy 5/10

CONTROLLERS
Luciano Orquera went from the sublime against France to the ridiculed at Murrayfield, where he was replaced at No.10 by the Aussie-born Kris Burton. Now he's back! The lack of a consistent, classy fly-half controller has been the biggest brake on Italy's development in the 10 years since Diego Dominguez bowed out – and Burton, for all his journeyman honesty, and the maddeningly flaky Orquera, have been unable to get Italy motoring through the gears.
Add to that the failure of a scrum-half to emerge in the last five years with even a modicum of Alessandro Troncon's fire and fury around the fringes, and you have a plausible explanation for the Azzurri's failure to shake up the established Six Nations order. The round-robin at No.9 continues with Edoardo Gori getting the nod, but neither he, Tobia Botes nor Fabio Semenzato seem able to get ahead of the game and make the shirt their own.
With the exception of the impressive Andrea Masi – who is a terrific centre being wasted at full-back – all the Italian leaders are in the pack. Italy have no authoritative tactical controllers to put their forwards in the right positions and guide their backline, and England will expect the re-cast half-back pairing of Danny Care and Toby Flood to show them how it's done.
RATING England 7/10  Italy 3/10

GAME-BREAKERS
Manu Tuilagi has proved to be England's matchwinner time and again, with England's powerhouse South Seas centre scoring his tenth try in 19 Tests a fortnight ago against France. It is a phenomenal contribution, but at the moment he is out on his own.
Until Chris Ashton gets his winged boots on again and gets over the line more regularly, or creates scoring opportunities for others, he does not qualify.
In this fixture two years ago Ashton filled his boots, scoring a record-equalling four tries in a 59-13 win, but since the 2011World Cup his strike rate has declined to the extent that he has scored only two tries in his last 14 Tests.
That would not matter so much if Ashton had done a David Campese, and become as much a creator as a finisher, carving out chances for others on a regular basis.
In the absence of that happening, and a few defensive glitches against France, Lancaster hinted that he might drop the Saracens wing. Instead, Ashton is given another chance to restate his claim ahead of the Wales game, against an Italy side that have leaked six tries in their last two games.
Parisse's ability as an athlete, distributor and carrier marks him out as Italy's greatest threat, but he is not a lone ranger. On the bench they have Tommaso Benvenuti, who has an eye for the gap and the pace to exploit it as he showed against England in Rome last year. Luke McLean is another who can split the defensive line.
RATING England 6/10 Italy 4/10
SET-PIECE
For as long as Italy have been in the Six Nations, a formidable scrum and a fearsome driving maul from lineouts has been their strength – and frequently their salvation. It appeared to be business as usual when the French were swept aside by the sheer force of the Italian driving maul in their defeat in Rome a few weeks ago, but then it all went badly wrong.
The Scots showed in Edinburgh that the Italian set piece could be disrupted, and, having done their homework, the Welsh set about undermining the Azzurri scrum at the Stadio Olimpico two weeks ago.
The Welsh front row of Adam Jones, Richard Hibbard and Gethin Jenkins were the crow-bars as the Italian scrum creaked and then cracked, with once-feared veteran props Andrea Lo Cicero and Martin Castrogiovanni looking like a spent force as they were shunted backwards. That is why Alberto De Marchi comes in as loosehead for Lo Cicero. However, the England trio of Mako Vunipola, Tom Youngs and Dan Cole will be seeking a similar outcome. The Red Rose pack needs to re-establish its scrum credentials after being more of a holding operation than a dominant force against Ireland and France.
This assignment against Italy also provides England forwards coach Graham Rowntree with a great opportunity to turn the driving maul into a tank in readiness for the showdown against Wales. So far, the English lineout drive has been workmanlike, but it requires more snap and dynamism if it is to leave an indelible mark on this tournament.
RATING  England 6/10 Italy 5/10

STRIKE-POWER
There are three strike runners in this England team capable of match-altering individual brilliance in the barnstorming Tuilagi, and the scrum-half rivals Care and Ben Youngs. Unfortunately, seeing as only one of the two livewire No.9s can be on the pitch, that leaves England's game-breaking resources a little on the light side. Mike Brown is no slouch in the creative stakes, although he has discovered that chances are harder to carve out on the counter-attack at Test level than they are for Harlequins. The good news is that Brown is as tenacious as they come, and against Italy his constant probing of the defensive line could lead to the discovery of a few more gaps.
As for Italy, if  coach Jacques Brunel ever gets round to pairing Masi and Benvenuti together in the centre he might discover that he has the best midfield assault weapon in the Six Nations.
Outside that, and the carrying ability in the back row of Zanni, Barbieri and Parisse,  it's hard to see where the Italian threat will come from.
RATING England 7/10  Italy 5/10
DEFENCE
When it comes to applying and sustaining pressure, England's defensive line has proved to be the best in the tournament, conceding three tries. Its speed and suffocating spread means that, bar the abberation of four missed tackles on Wesley Fofana, France were limited to a single chance, while Ireland had barely a sniff of the England line.
Now comes the Italian job, and a chance to test the strategy England will hope to use to immobilise Wales. In particular, this will mean eradicating the occasional missed first-up tackles that have resulted in tries conceded against Scotland in France.
Overall, however, the English defence has also been well-disciplined, limiting the opportunities for opponents to kick penalties within 40 metres of the English posts. If the aim has been to make opponents feel as uncomfortable as possible when they have the ball, then the system put in place by assistant coach Andy Farrell has passed with flying colours.
England have harried opponents into
conceding possession, territory and penalties – and any infringements have usually been punished and turned into points by the
accurate goalkicking of Owen Farrell, and also Flood, who came on as a replacement against France and starts against Italy
following Farrell's quad injury.
Italy have leaked eight tries in three games, with the low point coming against Scotland, who were able to run in four of them. The Azzurri have been porous not only around the fringes, but also up the middle, and wide out – although the shortfall has been much more in terms of defensive alignment and numbers than determination.
RATING  England 8/10 Italy 4/10
Overall England 42/60 Italy 26/60