After three consecutive Championship wins against Scotland, Ireland and France – pundits and spectators alike are expecting England to defeat Italy at Twickenham.

But Youngs insists Stuart Lancaster’s England are not getting carried away by their start to this year’s RBS 6 Nations and are taking Italy very seriously indeed.

The Azzurri started their campaign with a win over France but have since been beaten by Scotland and Wales – but, despite their recent form, Youngs insists Italy will still be a handful.

"It is another challenge and everything seems to be new this season in terms of us lot learning,” said Youngs. “Now the expectation is on us and it has not been since this group got together.

"I definitely think we have got the right people around us and the right squad to be able to deal with that expectation and make sure we approach it like any other game.

"Everyone is realising this is where we want to be heading in terms of standards.

"[The World Cup in] 2015 is the goal and this is where we need to go and where we need to be, and either you work hard and we are all in it together or you get left behind.

“You can feel the momentum of a game. That is why we look to play a high-tempo game, we feel a lot of teams will blow out and we can push on in the last 15 to 20 minutes.

"Psychologically, when you see a team fatigued, hunched over, it is a huge emotional boost, knowing how you are also feeling.

"As a squad we have said no matter how tired you are, you don't show it. It does have a knock-on effect within your side and also for the opposition."