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London - England coach Stuart Lancaster on Wednesday took the unusual step of confirming an unchanged match day squad for Saturday's Six Nations match against Italy at Twickenham on Saturday.
Lancaster will name the starting team on Thursday morning and is expected to stick with the same 15 who began in Cardiff on Friday when England impressively beat Wales 21-16.
The coach had been forced into making several changes after a raft of injuries but the new men performed impressively, notably centre Jonathan Joseph, who scored a try to cap a great performance in his first Six Nations match.
"We'll name the team on Thursday but we've gone for the same squad that played against Wales as we look to build consistent performances," Lancaster said in a statement.
"There are many players pushing hard for selection and we are looking forward to watching their club games this weekend."
England squad:
Forwards: Dave Attwood (Bath Rugby), Kieran Brooke (Newcastle Falcons), Nick Easter (Harlequins), Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers), Tom Croft (Leicester Tigers), Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints), James Haskell (Wasps), George Kruis (Saracens), Joe Marler (Harlequins), Chris Robshaw (captain, Harlequins), Billy Vunipola (Saracens), Mako Vunipola (Saracens), Tom Youngs (Leicester Tigers)
Backs: Mike Brown (Harlequins), Luther Burrell (Northampton Saints), Danny Cipriani (Sale Sharks), George Ford (Bath Rugby), Jonathan Joseph (Bath Rugby), Jonny May (Gloucester Rugby), Billy Twelvetrees (Gloucester Rugby), Anthony Watson (Bath Rugby), Richard Wigglesworth (Saracens), Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers)
