Jonny confirmed for England but Sheridan blow for Ashton

The Newcastle fly half retains his place, despite producing a poor performance when England slumped 26-19 at home to Wales in their tournament opener.

But giant prop Andrew Sheridan has become England's latest injury casualty.

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Sheridan, destroyer of the Australian front row during last October's World Cup quarter-final, is replaced by Wasps forward Tim Payne, who wins his sixth cap.

Sheridan, of Sale Sharks, was admitted to a hospital in Bath on Monday evening with an abscess adjacent to his right Achilles tendon.

Despite receiving intravenous antibiotics and undergoing a minor operation yesterday to drain the infection, Sheridan has not recovered sufficiently to be considered for England's clash with Italy in Rome on Sunday.

It is another huge setback for England, especially given the tough battle they can expect from an Italian front row that includes revered Leicester prop Martin Castrogiovanni.

Sheridan joins centre Mike Tindall (bruised liver), wing David Strettle (foot) and flanker Lewis Moody (Achilles), who were all hurt against Wales, together with Moody's replacement, Wasps' Tom Rees (knee ligament).

Tindall was detained in hospital after he suffered the injury during England's Six Nations defeat against Wales at Twickenham last Saturday and is now likely to miss the rest of the tournament.

England head coach Brian Ashton makes five changes following that crushing Twickenham setback - four of them enforced through injuries.

Newcastle centre Jamie Noon takes over from Tindall in an all-Falcons midfield alongside Wilkinson and Toby Flood. It will be Noon's first England appearance since a knee injury forced him out of the World Cup last September.

Rugby league recruit Lesley Vainikolo, who went on for Strettle last Saturday, retains his place to gain a first Test start, while back-row switches see Bath flanker Michael Lipman and Harlequins number eight Nick Easter both included.

Lipman, London-born but educated in Australia, wins a fourth cap - he has not previously played in the Six Nations - with World Cup regular Easter returning following a knee injury that has sidelined him since December 29.

Wilkinson kicked 14 points against Wales, leaving him just four short of reaching 1,000 for England.

But his overall display left a lot to be desired. So much so, that some pundits believed Ashton should have dropped him for the first time in an illustrious 10-year Test career.

Ashton had fly-half alternatives in his squad - Danny Cipriani, Charlie Hodgson and Shane Geraghty - yet Wilkinson keeps the number 10 shirt and wins a 67th cap as England's most experienced player in Rome.

Easter's availability means no place in the starting line-up for Gloucester forward Luke Narraway, who started against Wales but now drops down to bench duty.

Lipman, meanwhile, will look to transfer his impressive club form on to the international stage.

He has arguably been the outstanding number seven during this season's Guinness Premiership, helping Bath to feature prominently in the title play-off places.

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His three previous caps were all gained on foreign soil, against New Zealand in Auckland and Australia in Brisbane during England's 2004 summer tour, with his only start arriving two years later when England lost 43-18 to the Wallabies in Melbourne.

Had Easter not been declared fit - he has missed Harlequins' last four Premiership and Heineken Cup games - England's potential back row in Rome of James Haskell, Lipman and Narraway would have contained just seven caps between them.

Easter, 29, played a pivotal role during England's unlikely march to the World Cup runners-up spot, starting the vital pool games against Samoa and Tonga, then retaining his place for victories over Australia and France before meeting South Africa in the final.

Noon's tournament was cruelly cut short when he tore a knee ligament during the calamitous 36-0 group defeat against South Africa.

The 27 times-capped centre flew home from Paris within 72 hours of that game and was replaced by his Falcons colleague Flood.

He is a similar player to the stricken Tindall, offering a strong and direct midfield presence.

And England will also need to utilise Vainikolo's immense power far more than they did during a tactically-bankrupt display in the second period against Wales.

He was hardly used through the midfield channels, which, given his 17 stone-plus bulk, remains a mystery of Agatha Christie proportions.

Despite the Wales debacle, England will head to Rome as firm favourites, having won on all four previous Six Nations visits to Stadio Flaminio and racking up just over 46 points a time.

England team to play Italy in the RBS 6 Nations Championship in Rome on Sunday:

I Balshaw (Gloucester); P Sackey (Wasps), J Noon (Newcastle), T Flood (Newcastle), L Vainikolo (Gloucester); J Wilkinson (Newcastle), A Gomarsall (Harlequins); T Payne (Wasps), M Regan (Bristol), P Vickery (Wasps, capt), S Shaw (Wasps), S Borthwick (Bath), J Haskell (Wasps), M Lipman (Bath), N Easter (Harlequins).

Replacements: L Mears (Bath), M Stevens (Bath), B Kay (Leicester), L Narraway (Gloucester), R Wigglesworth (Sale Sharks), D Cipriani (Wasps), M Tait (Newcastle).