England duo to get team call

Andy Gomarsall and Phil Christophers, who both made substitute appearances for England against Wales 10 days ago, will be on A team duty later this week.

Gloucester scrum-half Gomarsall and Bristol Shoguns’ wing Christophers are among nine senior England internationals chosen for Friday night’s appointment with Italy at Northampton.

Leicester hooker Dorian West again captains the A side, with England looking to build on an impressive 30-13 demolition of France last month.

“It is a team with a strong blend of youth, potential and experience, and the back line of (Dan) Scarbrough, (Marcel) Garvey, (Jamie) Noon, (Ben) Johnston and Christophers is an exciting one with a lot of pace and power,” said England A coach Joe Lydon.

“They will have a solid platform from which to work, courtesy of some excellent forwards.

“I am pleased to see that players like Alex Sanderson and Ollie Smith have moved up to the seniors, confirming once again that there are opportunities for everyone in the A squad to make further progress at international level.”

Gomarsall is among four Gloucester players selected – wing Garvey, flanker Andy Hazell and number eight James Forrester are the others – while there is also an opportunity for Biarritz prop Maurice Fitzgerald.

England will be expected to brush aside their opponents, but things went horribly wrong in Naples last season when Italy triumphed 22-21.

Team: D Scarbrough (Leeds); M Garvey (Gloucester), J Noon (Newcastle), B Johnston (Saracens), P Christophers (Bristol Shoguns); P Grayson (Northampton), A Gomarsall (Gloucester); M Shelley (Leeds), D West (Leicester, capt), M Fitzgerald (Biarritz), S Borthwick (Bath), T Palmer (Leeds), M Corry (Leicester), A Hazell (Gloucester), J Forrester (Gloucester).

Replacements: A Titterrell (Sale Sharks), N Hatley (London Irish), C Jones (Sale Sharks), A Vander (Bath), N Walshe (Sale Sharks), A King (Wasps) or O Barkley (Bath), F Waters (Wasps).