• England name unchanged side to face Italy
• Lancaster wary of threat from home pack
Caretaker coaches called Stuart are suddenly de rigueur in English team sport. Stuart Lancaster has had just one Six Nations game in charge but, shortly before boarding the plane for Italy, he sounded like a seasoned veteran as he backed Stuart Pearce's fort-holding credentials following Fabio Capello's abrupt exit. While class is permanent, the era of the quietly ambitious temporary coach has definitely dawned.
It even transpires the two Stuarts are friendly, with Pearce pencilled in to visit Twickenham for the Wales game later this month. That commitment may now have to be shelved but Lancaster reckons the Football Association could do worse than appoint Pearce as Capello's successor, regardless of timescale. "I think he's the perfect person for the job," suggested Lancaster, who received a good luck call from the ex-England defender before the Scotland game. "I've spent time in camp with England Under-21s listening to his team meetings and he's been to our games. He's not just an ex-footballer who's become a coach; he's far more than that."
There are clear similarities between the two interim leaders even if Pearce won rather more international caps. Both believe in giving young players their heads and cherry-picking information from other sports. "He's a coach who's very open to learning and I know he's worked with Great Britain rugby league as well," said Lancaster. "He'll also have great knowledge of all the young players. It's a very similar situation to me … he's coached the James Milners of this world in the Under-21s. Can he hit the ground running? I think he can. It is important he brings his own philosophy and his own views into solving it, even if it is for just one game."
Lancaster even invited Pearce to address his Saxons squad before their fixture in Ireland last year. Although the game was lost – "We conceded two tries with the wind behind us, that was the problem there" – it was apparently not down to the standard of the guest speaker's oratory. Every caretaker knows, even so, that results will determine their fate and the feelgood factor surrounding Lancaster's England after their Calcutta Cup victory would instantly evaporate if they were to lose in Rome.
Perhaps mindful of that fact, Lancaster has named the same starting XV and replacements who featured at Murrayfield. Not for two years have England sent out an unchanged line-up but, with the cold weather disrupting their training plans this week, a little bit of continuity makes obvious sense. Apart from the captain's run and the actual game in Edinburgh, Lancaster's players have barely trained on grass for the past 10 days. Before heading for the airport they were forced to divert to an artificial surface at a school in Woking, with the pitch at Bagshot still unusable. The case for building a dedicated indoor training facility, as Wales and France have both already done, grows ever stronger.
The more urgent priority, according to Lancaster, is to ensure the Italian forwards do not make England's life a misery in front of more than 70,000 spectators at Rome's Stadio Olimpico. The visitors are keen to get their attacking game going more than managed to do last weekend but are uncomfortably aware the Azzurri are doughty opponents at home. "I don't view the Italians as any less of a threat than Wales," insisted Lancaster. "You've got to make their tight five work by playing with tempo and intensity."
He also reiterated his belief that on-field discipline is compromised if players fail to have a professional attitude off it. "We've talked about it again and discussed what pride, professionalism and commitment looks like," said Lancaster. Among other things his players have also been told not to yap at referees. "It may sound like a little thing but it all adds up. We've made it clear that unnecessary penalties are not to be tolerated." Another low-scoring, scrappy win would suit him just fine. "We're on stage one of a long journey. There are going to be a lot of ups and downs along the way."
England team to play Italy, 4pm GMT Saturday
Ben Foden (Northampton); Chris Ashton (Northampton), Brad Barritt (Saracens), Owen Farrell (Saracens), David Strettle (Saracens); Charlie Hodgson (Saracens), Ben Youngs (Leicester); Alex Corbisiero (London Irish), Dylan Hartley (Northampton), Dan Cole (Leicester), Mouritz Botha (Saracens), Tom Palmer (Stade Français), Tom Croft (Leicester), Chris Robshaw (Harlequins, capt), Phil Dowson (Northampton)
Replacements: Rob Webber (London Wasps), Matt Stevens (Saracens), Geoff Parling (Leicester), Ben Morgan (Scarlets), Lee Dickson (Northampton), Jordan Turner-Hall (Harlequins), Mike Brown (Harlequins).