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England aim to press home advantage - Cole

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Dan Cole says England aim to make the most of their home advantage when they take on Italy in the RBS 6 Nations at Twickenham on Saturday.

England have won the 16 games between the two countries, including all 11 meetings in the Six Nations stretching back to a 59-12 win in Rome in 2000.

This season’s clash at HQ is the  first of three home games in a row for England,  who kicked off this year’s Championship with a 26-19 victory over Wales at the Millennium Stadium

And Cole says England will be taking nothing for granted as they aim to follow up the win in Cardiff with victory against Italy.

“On paper it looks a very appetising run of games,” says the Leicester Tigers prop. “But if we lose one this weekend to Italy it puts paid to the Championship and to the rest of the home games. They haven’t got that buzz about them.

“We have to use Twickenham to our advantage and come away with a win.”

Cole added: “To win in Wales was a fairly big feat and hasn’t been done for a number of years by England.

“We came in on Monday and had a nice team meeting. We did some good things and also messed up a few things and that’s what we have to work on.”

Cole says England were, in general, pleased with their set-piece against the Welsh. However, he warned they face a stern test against an Italian pack, which includes his Tigers team-mate Martin Castrogiovanni, particularly in the scrum.

“Our lineout was spot on due to Louis Deacon calling and Dylan Hartley’s throwing,” Cole told the RFU.com podcast. “The scrum was a different matter. We were messy and that’s for us as a front row and a pack to sort out.

“The Italians are a big challenge, probably better than the Welsh in that department so we are going to have to knuckle down and focus on it this week.”