Harry Randall comes in for Ben Youngs as England make sweeping changes

England have made sweeping changes for Sunday’s Guinness Six Nations showdown with Italy led by Harry Randall replacing Ben Youngs at scrum-half.

Over half the team that fell to a 20-17 Calcutta Cup defeat by Scotland in round one have been removed from the starting XV or changed position as they head for Rome with the aim of avoiding any further setbacks.

Randall, an electric runner with an eye for space, makes his third start for his country and will be given the task of raising the tempo against Italy, who have lost their previous 33 matches in the tournament dating back to 2015.

Demoted to the bench, Youngs must hope to equal Jason Leonard’s England cap record of 114 as a replacement knowing he can then surpass the milestone against Wales at Twickenham on February 26.

“We’ve been really pleased with Harry. Ben started for us against Scotland last weekend and we’ve just reversed the roles,” head coach Eddie Jones said.

“Harry’s a livewire half-back, he’s very good in broken play. He’s got a good solid pass on him and his kicking game is improving.”

Jones has challenged his side to “light up Rome” and they will attempt to fulfil his wishes with a new centre combination after Joe Marchant was switched from the left wing to 13, forcing Elliot Daly on to the bench.

Jack Nowell follows up his brief cameo in Edinburgh by filling the vacancy on the wing as his comeback from a terrible run of injuries gathers pace.

“Joe is a good strong runner. He can hit the front line really well, which we maybe missed a little bit last weekend,” Jones said.

“Given that he had such restricted training before Scotland it was difficult for him to play 13 last week, so Elliot will move back as a finisher.

“Jack Nowell has had three solid weeks