England may use Manu Tuilagi as ‘wrecking ball’ against Italy

England may recall Manu Tuilagi to their replacements bench as they plan one final attempt to take the Six Nations title this weekend.

England need to beat bottom-of-the-table Italy - winless so far in the tournament - in Rome on Saturday, ideally by a huge margin to erode Ireland's massive points difference advantage before the Irish kick off against France, the third side in title contention, later in the day in the final match.

Any sort of Ireland win is likely to see them crowned champions in Paris but a narrow French victory could yet suit England's purposes, while a draw would take points difference out of the equation - provided England beat the Italians, who they have yet to lose against in a test.

Powerful centre Tuilagi could be just the ideal "wrecking ball" to send on against a tiring Italian defence even though he has only recently come back from a chest muscle injury that sidelined him for six months and made only one club appearance for English champions Leicester since his return to fitness.

England coach Stuart Lancaster says he is reluctant to tamper with a starting XV who performed so impressively in beating defending Six Nations champions Wales 29-18 at Twickenham on Sunday.

But Lancaster said Tuilagi, who would probably come in for utility back Alex Goode if selected, was a replacement option.

"If we were to go down the route of using him on the bench he'd certainly have a big impact," Lancaster said.

"We didn't feel that it was right to involve Manu against Wales because of his lack of training time with us. We'd be more comfortable bringing him in for this weekend.