Treviso v Leicester - Preview

Leicester have recalled Telusa Veainu and Tommy Bell to their backline for Saturday's European Rugby Champions Cup trip to Treviso, live on Sky Sports 2 HD from 12.30pm.

Tonga international Veainu is named at full-back with Bell returning at fly-half in the absence of Owen Williams.

Their return allows a reshuffle in the backline with Peter Betham restored to the wing and captain Mathew Tait at centre alongside Matt Smith.

Tom Croft returns to the forward pack after missing the win over Stade Francais last weekend with a back injury.

Having picked up maximum points against the French champions in the opening round, Leicester will be looking for another bonus-point win on the road.

"We made a really good start to the tournament with five points against Stade Francais last weekend but that will not count for much if we cannot follow up with another strong performance in Italy this weekend," said Tigers director of rugby Richard Cockerill.

"We've got competition for places in the squad which means we can pick the freshest team available for this week and have a potential threat throughout the 23-man squad.

"Treviso are always a tough side to play against and on our last couple of visits we've needed late scores to get a win there, so we know we have to play well, we will have to be physical and we will have to be accurate."

Treviso are still looking for their first win of the season after falling to a 32-7 opening round defeat against Munster at Thomond Park. 

Treviso 

15 Luke McLean, 14 Ludovico Nitoglia, 13 Enrico Bacchin, 12 Samuel Christie, 11 Tommaso Iannone, 10 James Ambrosini, 9 Edoardo Gori (c); 1 Matteo Zanusso, 2 Ornel Gega, 3 Rupert Harden, 4 Filo Paulo, 5 Jean-François Montauriol, 6 Marco Barbini, 7 Francesco Minto, 8 Abraham Jurgens Steyn.

Replacements: 16 Davide Giazzon, 17 Matteo Muccignat, 18 Filippo Filippetto, 19 Dean Budd, 20 Marco Lazzaroni, 21 Alberto de Marchi, 22 Christopher Smylie, 23 Andrea Pratichetti.

Leicester Tigers

15 Telusa Veainu; 14 Peter Betham, 13 Matthew Tait (c), 12 Matt Smith, 11 Vereniki Goneva; 10 Thomas Bell, 9 Sam Harrison; 1 Marcos Ayerza, 2 Tom Youngs, 3 Fraser Balmain, 4 Dom Barrow, 5 Michael Fitzgerald, 6 Tom Croft, 7 Brendon O'Connor, 8 Jordan Crane

Replacements: 16 Greg Bateman, 17 Matias Aguero, 18 Dan Cole, 19 Ed Slater, 20 Lachlan McCaffrey, 21 Ben Youngs, 22 Seremaia Bai, 23 George Catchpole.

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England v Italy - Preview

England will be looking to build on their impressive Six Nations start when they host Italy at Twickenham on Saturday.

England silenced Cardiff with an impressive second-half display to beat Wales 21-16 at the Millennium Stadium in their Championship opener last Friday.

Scott Quinnell gives his prediction on the 6 Nations clash between England and Italy

Head coach Stuart Lancaster has kept the faith in the side who beat Wales by naming the same 23 for the visit of the Azzurri.

Jonathan Joseph will make his Twickenham debut as he resumes his promising centre partnership outside Luther Burrell with George Ford once again pulling the strings at fly-half.

Tighthead prop Dan Cole is given another chance to gain match fitness after a year interrupted by neck and foot problems, while on the other side of the scrum Joe Marler continues to be first choice loosehead.

England backs coach Andy Farrell has been impressed with how the young players have adapted to the international game

Italy coach Jacques Brunel has made four changes to his team for Saturday’s clash plus two further positional changes.

Veteran lock Marco Bortolami extends his caps record for Italy to 111, replacing Newcastle's Josh Furno in the second row.

Another Azzurri stalwart, flanker Mauro Bergamasco will pick up his 101st cap in place of Alessandro Zanni, who partially tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee in last week’s 26-3 defeat to Ireland in Rome and has been ruled out for the rest of the season.

Sale Sharks prop Alberto De Marchi, who started on the bench last week, swaps places with Matias Aguero at loosehead in the other change in the forwards.

Michele Campagnaro will miss the rest of the Six Nations after injuring his left knee, so Luca Morisi has moved out one spot to fill the vacant outside centre position. Wasps star Andrea Masi will be at inside centre, switching from full-back. Sale's Luke McLean moves to No 15 from the left wing.

Giovambattista Venditti, who started on the bench in Rome, comes on to the left wing.

England: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Anthony Watson, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Luther Burrell, 11 Jonny May, 10 George Ford, 9 Ben Youngs, 1 Joe Marler, 2 Dylan Hartley, 3 Dan Cole, 4 Dave Attwood, 5 George Kruis, 6 James Haskell, 7 Chris Robshaw (c), 8 Billy Vunipola,

Replacements: 16 Tom Youngs, 17 Mako Vunipola, 18 Kieran Brookes, 19 Nick Easter, 20 Tom Croft, 21 Richard Wigglesworth, 22 Danny Cipriani, 23 Billy Twelvetrees.

Italy: 15 Luke McLean, 14 Leonardo Sarto, 13 Luca Morisi, 12 Andrea Masi, 11 Giovambattista Venditti, 10 Kelly Haimona, 9 Edoardo Gori, 1 Alberto De Marchi, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 4 George Fabio Biagi, 5 Marco Bortolami, 6 Mauro Bergamasco, 7 Francesco Minto, 8 Sergio Parisse (c).

Replacements: 16 Andrea Manici, 17 Matias Aguero, 18 Dario Chistolini, 19 Joshua Furno, 20 Samuela Vunisa, 21 Guglielmo Palazzani, 22 Tommaso Allan, 23 Giulio Bisegni.

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Ireland Win Roman Battle

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Ireland opened the defence of their Six Nations title with a stuttering 26-3 victory over Italy in Rome.

Tries from Conor Murray and Tommy O'Donnell as well as 14 points from the boot of Ian Keatley gave the defending champions the perfect start to this year’s campaign despite a disjointed display.

Ireland suffered an early disruption to the match when they lost Sean O’Brien to an injury during the warm-up. His place in the starting line-up was taking by O'Donnell and Robbie Diack was called onto the bench.

There had been rain leading up to kick-off, making for slippery conditions in the opening exchanges - and the early handling reflected that.

The first half played host to typically bullish Italian defence, but as is often the case with Italy it was not long before the constant tackling took its toll. To the hosts' credit they did not concede a try in the first half, but Keatley kept Ireland ticking over with his boot.

Keatley did not enjoy a good start in the No 10 jersey with ball in hand, but missed no kicks at goal on the day, and he took his team to a 9-0 lead in the 35th minute.

By the time the teams headed into the break Italy had added a penalty of their own, but it was Ireland who started the second half with more purpose.

Italy’s disciplined defence during this period, and uncharacteristically poor execution from Ireland, meant that it took until the close of the third quarter for Ireland to finally add to that scoreline with another kick from Keatley. At that point Leonardo Ghiraldini was shown a yellow card for a professional foul at a maul, and thereafter Ireland began to pile on the pressure as well as points.

Conor Murray was the first to cross over when Ireland had the extra man advantage, darting over from close range at the side of a ruck, and his score was followed two minutes later by a solo break from O'Donnell. Both scores were converted.

Italy appeared to have scored in the dying minutes but Kelly Haimona was denied his first international try when the TMO spotted a knock-on from Sergio Parisse in the build up to it.

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