England boss Brian Ashton has sprung a major surprise ahead of Saturday's Six Nations Championship clash against Italy by picking uncapped Harlequins flanker Nick Easter.

The 31-year-old forward replaces Joe Worsley, who has not fully recovered from a neck injury that forced him off during England's 42-20 Calcutta Cup victory over Scotland two days ago.

While Ashton expects Worsley to be available for selection when England tackle tournament favourites Ireland in Dublin on February 24th, Easter has been handed a golden opportunity.

He joined Quins from Orrell in August, 2004, and featured off the bench for England Saxons during their win against Italy A last Friday night.

Iain Balshaw has been restored as full-back instead of his Gloucester colleague Olly Morgan, but Balshaw will need to prove his fitness in training on Wednesday after being sidelined by a groin problem.

If he fails to recover in time, then Morgan will be retained, while one change on the bench sees Bristol scrum-half Shaun Perry named instead of Peter Richards.

England team: I Balshaw (Gloucester); J Lewsey (Wasps), M Tindall (Gloucester), A Farrell (Saracens), J Robinson (Sale Sharks); J Wilkinson (Newcastle), H Ellis (Leicester); P Freshwater (Perpignan), G Chuter (Leicester), P Vickery (Wasps, capt), L Deacon (Leicester), D Grewcock (Bath), N Easter (Harlequins), M Lund (Sale Sharks), M Corry (Leicester)

Replacements: L Mears (Bath), J White (Leicester), T Palmer (Wasps), T Rees (Wasps), S Perry (Bristol), T Flood (Newcastle), M Tait (Newcastle)