By Chris Foy for the Daily Mail
Published: 22:35 GMT, 7 March 2019 | Updated: 22:35 GMT, 7 March 2019
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England's 'rough diamonds' will join forces for the first time on Saturday, with orders to stay true to their aggressive nature at the heart of the forward battle against Italy at Twickenham.
Leicester prop Ellis Genge was selected by Eddie Jones for only his fourth Test start and the 24-year-old loosehead will be lining up for the first time alongside his close friend, Harlequins tighthead Kyle Sinckler, 25.
The pair are regarded by their head coach as rising forces of nature who have managed to suppress their fighting instincts just enough to be prize assets.
England's 'rough diamonds' Ellis Genge (L) and Kyle Sinckler will start for England against Italy
ENGLAND: Daly; Cokanasiga, Tuilagi, Te'o, May; Farrell (capt), Youngs; Genge, George, Sinckler; Launchbury, Kruis; Shields, B Vunipola, Curry. SUBS: Cowan-Dickie, Moon, Cole, Hughes, Wilson, Robson, Ford, Slade.
ITALY: Hayward; Padovani, Campagnaro, Morisi, Esposito; Allan, Tebaldi: Lovotti, Bigi, Ferrari; Ruzza, Budd; Negri, Parisse (capt), Steyn. SUBS: Ghiraldini, Traore, Pasquali, Sisi, Polledri, Palazzani, McKinley, Castello.
Genge and Sinckler have not been on the field together for England yet, but they've been throwing their weight around within the set-up for some time.
After naming a team with five starting changes, Jones recalled how the rookie front-rowers 'wanted to fight with everyone and argue with everyone' during a training session on the Gold Coast at the start of England's tour of Australia in 2016. 'For the whole session we just tried to keep those two calm,' he added.
'They've matured and I'm really pleased with their progress. Kyle has probably been ahead of Genge in