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England will look to elaborate upon their hard-fought win over Scotland last weekend and show their bright new era is going somewhere whey they go up against Italy in the 6 Nations on Saturday.

England were far from fluent as they were put under extreme pressure by Scotland, but a resilient defensive effort saw the visitors emerge with a 6-13 win, the first time they have emerged victorious at Murrayfield since 2004.

Interim head coach Stuart Lancaster described the game which saw no less than eight England players win their first cap as the perfect demonstration as to why he should get the job full time, but he will certainly be looking to put some flesh on the bones of his job application with some more forward thinking rugby against a limited Italy side.

Another man seemingly on trial during the Scotland game was new captain Chris Robshaw, whose monumental defensive shift was at the heart of England’s constant repelling of Scottish waves of attack, but whether he retains the armband in the long term remains to be seen.

He’ll certainly pick up where he left off in Rome where an Italy side who demonstrated little of the progress they showed in last year’s 6 Nations in their opening game against France last weekend.

Last time round Italy picked up a historic win against France, who would go on to feature in the World Cup final later that year and would have claimed another memorable win over were it not for a last gasp Ronan O’Gara drop goal that snatched a win for a fortunate Irish side.

France were able to nullify the threat of the Azzurri and claim a fairly straight-forward 3-12 win over Italy in Paris last weekend, and England will be looking to do very much the same when they meet on Saturday.

Last time round England run riot against Italy as they looked to be building some serious momentum at the start of a World Cup year, with Chris Ashton claiming a four tries as he broke the 6 Nations scoring record inside the second game of the tournament as England cantered to a 53-13 win at Twickenham.

Few expect a similar result this time round with so many new faces, but one man who played in that game could be ready to make his return after shaking off an injury. Toby Flood couldn’t quite make the number 10 jersey his own at the World Cup thanks to the presence of a certain Jonny Wilkinson, but he returns to the England squad for the game against Italy hopeful of dislodging Charlie Hodgson at fly-half.

Match Winner

England have won all 16 of their games against Italy and have scored on average more than five tries per game, meaning it comes as no surprise that it is the away side that are the favourites to win.

England are 1.29 (2/7) with BlueSQ to continue their progress under Stuart Lancaster, while Italy are 4.50 (7/2) with Bet365 to spring a surprise. The draw is 29.00 (28/1) with BWIN.

Winning margin

While there is little suggestion England will canter to victory this time round, most observers are expecting an easy win for the visitors.

England are favourites to win the game by more than 13 points, with Paddy Power pricing the bet at 2.40 (7/5).

46 points was the margin between the two sides last time round and England are 251.00 (250/1) with Ladbrokes to end up between 46 and 50 points ahead this time, while a narrow Italy win of between 1 and 12 points is priced at 5.00 (4/1) with Bet365.

Recommended Bets

Half-time/Full-time: England/England, 1.57 (4/7) SkyBet

Winning Margin: England 1-13 points, 2.40 (7/5) Paddy Power

View the rest of this betting tip at: http://www.bigfreebet.com/previews/2012/italy-v-england-6-nations-betting.html

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