ENGLAND have to expect the unexpected when they take on Italy in their second TikTok Women’s Six Nations clash on Sunday.

Those are the words of Red Roses coach Simon Middleton — who has rung the changes for the game in Parma.

In all there are nine new faces in the starting line-up, with England looking for a 20th successive victory against a side they thumped 67-3 a year ago.

On that occasion, England were unusually subdued in the first half, leading 17-3 thanks only to two tries directly from Italian mistakes.
And Middleton is expecting a tough game once again.

He said: “As a squad we are really familiar with Italy, in terms of what a threat they can be.

“We hadn’t created one single scoring opportunity against them at half-time last year — which is pretty much unheard of for us.

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“If you give them too much time on the ball, they will keep the ball really well.

“They have good skills across their backline, they have real unpredictability about them.

“So it’s a case of expecting the unexpected when we take on Italy.”

Elsewhere this weekend, IRELAND have named an unchanged team to take on FRANCE in Toulouse.

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Following a 27-19 defeat at home to Wales, Ireland coach Greg McWilliams has backed the same team to turn things around as they search for a first-ever victory away in France.

The TikTok Women’s Six Nations is more accessible than ever before. To find out how you can watch the Women’s Championship visit: womens.sixnationsrugby.com/tv/

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