Saturday’s (6 April) encounter of the pathway sides takes place at the Stadio Tommaso Fattori, L’Aquila, and will kick-off at 17:00 BST. The match will be live streamed on the Federazione Italiana Rugby YouTube channel. 

Titterrell and fellow U20 Men’s coach Mark Mapletoft take charge of the team to utilise gametime on the international circuit for England Rugby pathway players graduating the U18 Men’s set-up. 

Sale Sharks lock Thomas Burrow, a 2024 U20 Elite Player Squad (EPS) member, captains the side for a second week following on from a 24-21 reverse at the hands of France U19 Men at Doncaster Knights’ Castle Park last weekend.  

2024 U20 Men's Six Nations winners Jacob Oliver (Newcastle Falcons), Olamide Sodeke (Saracens), Kane James (Exeter Chiefs) and Joshua Bellamy (Harlequins) continue their starting places in Titterrell’s set-up for the trip. Sale Sharks scrum-half Dom Hanson takes the number nine shirt as the only change from last week’s game with Max Blinkhorn named as one of nine replacements. 

Nottingham University’s Blinkhorn, who trained with the U20 Men’s EPS through their title-winning campaign, joins university students Owen Popple (Hartpury University) and Will Owen (Cardiff Metropolitan University) as Titterrell’s finishers for the encounter. 

Andy Titterrell said: “Whilst the result last week in Doncaster wasn’t what we had hoped for, these fixtures are the perfect opportunity for us to examine the plentiful talent we possess here in the pathway in competitive scenarios.  

“Our aim is to continue the alignment of our key principles; such as speed, attachment and space, throughout all age groups and provide the platform for these players to excel in an England shirt between competition time. 

“We’re anticipating another stern test on our trip to Italy, and the coaches and I are eager to see this group respond positively come Saturday afternoon.”