San Francisco Frontiers - Itoje defends England's under-fire Six Nations attack

Steve Borthwick's third-placed team remain in championship contention despite only being fourth in the try-scoring charts behind France, Ireland and Scotland after crossing their opponents' line a mere eight times in three games.

England were outscored three tries to one by Scotland last time out yet managed to scrape a 16-15 win that meant they regained the Calcutta Cup.

Nevertheless, England coach Borthwick responded to his side's second straight one-point victory -- they edged France 26-25 as well -- by dropping Marcus Smith and Henry Slade from his back-line for Sunday's match against Italy at Twickenham, with their places taken by Elliot Daly and Fraser Dingwall -- one of five Northampton players behind the scrum.

England were booed by their own fans early in the second half against Scotland at Twickenham a fortnight ago following repeated box-kicking, with 2003 World Cup winner Will Greenwood berating the current side for playing "no rugby".

Several other pundits lamented England's lack of dynamism with ball in hand against Scotland but Itoje said Friday: "I don't think our attack is as bad as everyone is saying it is.

"First game against Ireland, we scored three tries. Second game against France we scored four. Obviously we only scored one last time against Scotland, but that's not reflective of an attack that can't even start the engine."

The 30-year-old lock added: "Don't get me wrong, we want to improve. We want to get better at it. But I don't think we're starting from a bad place."

Italy arrive at Twickenham having been hammered 73-24 by France last time out and looking for a first win over England after losing all 31 previous Tests with the Red Rose brigade.

But a wary Itoje said: "Italy's game has been a bit up and down but they have shown both sides of that. They have shown they can cause teams a lot of problems and they won't be too happy with their result against France.

"We want to win. We want to win well. But to do that, we have to do all the tough stuff that rugby requires. It's not going to be an easy game."

Itoje succeeded Saracens team-mate Jamie George as England captain at the start of this tournament but it is the hooker who will lead the side out of the changing room on Sunday as he wins his 100th England cap.

"He put me under his wing, he helped me, gave me words of advice," said Itoje of George. "He also set the standard. Despite his appearance, he's an incredibly athletic player - fit and strong. He set a standard to live up to in many ways.

"I've definitely become a better player as a result of spending time and playing with Jamie."

F.Garcia--SFF