England will unleash their heavy artillery against Italy at Twickenham on Saturday, with Ben Te'o and Manu Tuilagi joining forces in midfield for the first time – while Joe Cokanasiga starts out wide. Worcester centre Te'o was on course to feature in the starting XV for the Guinness Six Nations opener against Ireland in Dublin last month, until he suffered a side strain during England's training camp in Portugal. His enforced withdrawal left England short of options at No 12 so Tuilagi was deployed there, even though Eddie Jones reiterated that he sees him primarily as an outside centre. Ben Te'o will start in the centre for England when they play Italy at Twickenham on Saturday Eddie Jones is unleashing the heavy artillery as England look to get back on track Well, on Thursday morning the national coach has picked him in that preferred position – to clear space for the return of Te'o alongside. It will create a new, powerful midfield alliance at the expense of Exeter's Henry Slade, who has worn the 13 shirt in the first three rounds of this championship campaign. Meanwhile, giant Bath rookie Cokanasiga claims a starting place, having recovered from a knee injury which struck him down after an international breakthrough in the autumn. Eddie Jones said: 'We have had a good preparation ahead of Italy with a great week in Oxford where we competed against Georgia for two days. 'Players have had a good break and have come back into camp reenergised and refocused for what is an important game for us.' He added: 'Italy is a bit of an unknown quantity but when Conor allows them to play rugby they play well. They have played terrific games in the Six Nations. Manu Tuilagi has also been given the nod to pair with Te'o in the middle for the first time Bath winger Joe Cokanasiga has been handed his first ever start in a Red Rose jersey 'They are fitter, physically stay in the contest a lot longer and they are quite unpredictable in the way they attack. ENGLAND TEAM TO FACE ITALY Backs: Cokanasiga, Daly, May, Tuilagi, Te'o, Farrell, Youngs Forwards: Genge, George, Sinckler, Launchbury, Kruis, Shields, B Vunipola, Curry Replacements: Cowan-Dickie, Moon, Cole, Hughes, Wilson, Robson, Ford, Slade 'We expect Italy to throw the ball around a bit so we are going to have to defend very well against their unpredictability and when we have got the ball, we have to use it wisely.' As expected, Maro Itoje and Jack Nowell have been left out of the match-day 23. Itoje suffered another knee injury as he attempted to step around Jones during a training session on Tuesday – having just recovered from a previous knee injury which kept him out of the last two games – while Nowell has been struggling with a 'stinger' suffered in the Wales match. Asked how Te'o had handled his frustrating pre-championship injury, which had left him in the role of reluctant spectator, England defence coach John Mitchell said: 'Ben's a very mature athlete. He tends to take his setbacks well. Maro Itoje suffered another knee injury after returning to training earlier this week Jack Nowell has been struggling with a 'stinger' suffered in the Wales match and misses out 'You see good body language all the time, but it must be challenging mentally at times. We rate him highly.' Assessing Te'o and Tuilagi – who was off the Test radar for a long time until his autumn return, Mitchell added: 'They're both strong guys, both have the ability to dominate the gainline, with and without the ball. 'They just love ball in hand and that gain line. To win momentum through them is a strength of ours.' Italy will be on a state of high alert about the physical threat posed by England's new centre partnership – and also by the newcomer on the flank. Cokanasiga is an imposing figure and Mitchell said: 'You walk past him some days and go, 'This guy's a mountain'. He's a good spirit as well. He is a really infectious sort of guy and very coachable.' Jonny May has been cleared to play on the wing having come through concussion protocols Jones has retained the same half-back partnership of Ben Youngs and Owen Farrell yet again, which means that Wasps scrum-half Dan Robson is once more among the replacements – hoping for more game-time as he seeks to establish himself at Test level. Jonny May has been cleared to continue on the left wing, having come through the concussion protocols following his bang to the head in the defeat against Wales in Cardiff. Up front, Leicester's rampaging loosehead prop, Ellis Genge, has been selected to start in place of Ben Moon, while Joe Launchbury comes in for Courtney Lawes – starting alongside George Kruis for only the second time. In the back row, Brad Shields has been recalled at blindside in place of Mark Wilson – the Newcastle flanker who has been a stand-out performer during this championship. All rights reserved for this news site dailymail and under his responsibility