ENGLAND have dropped Marcus Smith and Henry Slade in a dramatic shake-up of the backline for Sunday’s Six Nations clash with Italy at Twickenham.

Smith is demoted to the bench to make way for the recall of Elliot Daly at full-back, while Slade is jettisoned from the 23 altogether, with Fraser Dingwall making his first Test appearance since last year’s championship.

The reshaped midfield sees Dingwall slot in at inside centre, with Ollie Lawrence remaining in the number 13 jersey.