The Azzurri have yet to taste victory over England either home or away but with plenty of rain forecast for Sunday conditions will be in their favour.

Both backlines may well be reduced to the role of spectators leaving both sets of forwards to slug it out - a confrontation Mallett believes can level the playing field in Rome.

He said: "There's lot of bad weather forecast and if I am being honest that suits us fine.

"Both teams have got powerful packs and it may well come down to the side who play the conditions the best.

"We are confident we can get an edge in our front five and this is a great opportunity for us."

Mallett makes just two changes from the side that lost 29-11 to Ireland with lock Macro Bortolami and wing Andrea Masi coming into the side.

Despite the turgid nature of the defeat to Ireland, Mallett was keen to take the positives from the second half when they only conceded six points and is hoping for a more favourable interpretation of the scrum than they received from French referee Romain Poite.

Both Italian props Martin Castrogiovanni and Salvatore Perugini have more caps individually than the English front-row - featuring full debutant Dan Cole - have collectively.

England boss Martin Johnson's other change comes in midfield with fit-again Riki Flutey taking the place of Toby Flood who drops to the bench.

While Johnson can take heart from the 30-17 defeat of Wales, he will also be concerned by the manner in which they let a 17-point lead get whittled down to just three points at one stage in the second half.

Two years ago in Rome, England also let a big lead slip in their 23-19 victory yet since then their away-day blues have seen them lose their last six games on the road.

But Johnson believes finding a settled group of players can help his side find some consistency in their results.

He said: "I'm confident we have the right group of players. It's great to have the result against Wales but it's important now to turn up and play well against Italy."