Hill leads from the back

Richard Hill will shoulder new responsibility as England's 'defensive captain' against Italy on Sunday. The toughtackling Saracens flanker will take over from Neil Back who has been dropped for the game in Rome.

Although Lawrence Dallaglio is team captain, leadership on the pitch is shared among the more experienced players.

Ben Kay is in charge of lineouts, Will Greenwood marshalls attacks from his position in the centre and now Hill will take on the third vital role.

Hill said: 'My role will be critical in terms of how well the defence is going, seeing what's going wrong - if anything - and offering encouragement and advice on the pitch.

'There are some new combinations within the team for this match and you have to work hard to get the defence right every time you step onto the pitch. We have been working on this in training and one of the key elements is communication - you have to keep talking to each other.'

Just like Back, Hill will lead by example, even if that means putting his increasingly scarred face in the line of fire on Sunday. It appears Hill, who broke his nose in his last game for England against New Zealand Barbarians last December, increases his stitch count in every match.

'If you get the defence right then you are a long way towards a good team performance," he said. "Italy proved in the World Cup and last year's Six Nations that they have the ability to attack and score tries.

'Their ball retention was fantastic against us in the second half at Twickenham and if we play like that again we will have an even tougher battle on our hands in Rome.

'Italy have Glen Ella, who worked with the Wallabies at the World Cup Final, helping prepare them at the moment and we could face dummy runners in midfield.'