England drop Marcus Smith and Henry Slade for Italy clash

England have dropped Marcus Smith and Henry Slade in a dramatic shake-up of the backline for Sunday's Guinness Six Nations clash with Italy at Twickenham (3pm, live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player).

Smith is demoted to the bench to make way for the recall of Elliot Daly at full-back, while Slade is jettisoned from the 23 altogether, with Fraser Dingwall making his first Test appearance since last year’s championship.

The reshaped midfield sees Dingwall slot in at inside centre, with Ollie Lawrence remaining in the number 13 jersey.

Despite compiling victories over France and Scotland, head coach Steve Borthwick has made a third change by opting for Jamie George over Luke Cowan-Dickie at hooker.

George marks his return to the front row after two replacement appearances by winning his 100th cap.

Smith’s exclusion from the starting XV is the biggest bombshell, continuing a rapid fall from grace for the Harlequins playmaker.

Since last year’s Six Nations he has been involved in all 10 of England’s Tests, starting at fly-half in each of them apart from the recent wins against France and Scotland.

Having lost the number 10 jersey to Fin Smith after the opening weekend loss to Ireland, he was moved to full-back where he showed some neat touches without taking command of the position.

Now he finds himself on the bench as cover for Fin Smith and Daly, who impressed during his cameos as a replacement in the recent one-point wins that have propelled England back into title contention.

Slade pays the price for failing to make an impact for England over a period of time, although the return of Dingwall is still a curveball selection given he was axed after winning his two caps in the 2024 Six Nations.

Dingwall is more of a facilitator for those around