Six Nations: Italy v England - How Eddie Jones hopes the spirit of Muhammad Ali can inspire Red Rose in Rome

Even in round two England are looking to rebuild their Guinness Six Nations after an opening-day defeat by Scotland made Sunday’s trip to Rome a must-win encounter.

Jones wants a side showing six changes in personnel, including Harry Randall starting ahead of Ben Youngs at scrum-half, to put Italy to the sword in the hope of reviving their title challenge.

Reinforcing the assault on the Stadio Olimpico will be a bench containing 409 caps due to the presence of veterans such as Youngs, George Ford and Joe Marler.

To illustrate his vision for England, Jones has looked to Ali’s first-round knockout of Liston when they fought for a second time in 1965.

A controversial finish produced one of the most iconic images in sport as Ali taunted his fallen opponent.

“We want to be ruthless. We’ve got a chance on Sunday to atone for what we did against Scotland,” Jones said.

“We can only do that by being really ruthless and having that vision of Muhammad Ali standing over Sonny Liston – that sort of image in your head where you want to really go at them.

“If you look at our squad, we’re probably missing seven front-line players, very conservatively. When you look at the quality of our bench, it’s testament to the strength of the squad.

“We’ve got what would be deemed a very young and inexperienced team starting. It’s around half the number of caps you need in your side to win a World Cup.

“We’ve got a nice blend of a young and vibrant starting XV and a more worldly and experienced finishing eight.

“There is the possibility the finishing eight will have the opportunity to be Muhammad Ali standing over Sonny Liston.”

For all Jones’s ambition against a side who have lost their last 33 matches in the Six Nations, he accepts there is a banana skin aspect to the fixture mitigated by events at Murrayfield.

“It’s a tough game,” added Jones. “These are the toughest weeks to prepare for, but it’s made easier that we had a disappointing result against Scotland, so the attitude, application of the players has been first class.

“In these weeks you sometimes lose that one or two per cent discretionary effort, but I haven’t seen that. We’ve prepared really well. Italy are an improving team.”

Over half the team that collapsed 20-17 against Scotland have been removed from the starting XV or changed position as they head for Rome with the aim of avoiding another setback.

One of the adjustments sees Alex Dombrandt replace Sam Simmonds at No 8, giving him the opportunity to work in tandem with fly-half Marcus Smith in a combination that has been highly successful for Harlequins.

“We see that certain styles of play fit each other and they’ve certainly got that understanding,” added Jones. “Alex runs very good inside balls off Marcus.

“He’s got that understanding of when to do it. They will do that on the field and have been doing it in training. I’m sure that’s going to happen on Sunday.”

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 not won in the tournament since 2015.

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.

The pack is subjected to the most extensive surgery with Luke Cowan-Dickie dropping to the bench after conceding a crucial penalty try at Murrayfield, 
Jamie George taking over at hooker.

Jones stressed Cowan-Dickie’s relegation to a supporting role is because he has been unable to train fully this week rather than his costly blunder.

Will Stuart is given a run out at tighthead prop in place of Kyle Sinckler and Charlie Ewels drops into the second row where he will partner Nick Isiekwe.

A rejigged back row sees Maro Itoje takes over from the injured Lewis Ludlam at blindside flanker.