Toby Flood: Back in England starting XV

Toby Flood will return to the England side on Sunday for stage four of their Grand Slam quest inspired by the words of Sir Bradley Wiggins.

The Olympic and Tour de France champion addressed the England squad before their QBE autumn international campaign and his words have stuck with Flood, who has always been a keen cycling fan.

England fans will expect their team to complete a routine victory over Italy on Sunday and set up a shot at the Grand Slam when they head to Wales on the final weekend of the championship.

Flood is acutely aware of what England could achieve over the next eight days but he learned from Wiggins' Tour de France triumph that there are no short-cuts to glory. Each stage is vital.

"Bradley Wiggins talked about how you have to break everything down," Flood said.

"He knew the Tour de France was there and he had the ability but he had to get the Paris-Nice right and the Dauphine right. That is a really interesting thing for us to deal with.

"This is the Six Nations, it is eight weeks long and you have to get it right day-by-day, week-by-week.

"I was interested to hear him say how some days he can't be arsed to do it and it sounds terrible but there are those days when it is wet and miserable.

"But you get out on the bike or out on the field and you get motivated because if you get two or three missed sessions it hurts you more."

Flood has come into the side in place of the injured Owen Farrell as one of five changes made by head coach Stuart Lancaster following the 23-13 victory over France.

Flood links up with Danny Care in a new half-back partnership. Mako Vunipola will make his first Test start at loosehead prop while Lancaster has recalled hooker Tom Youngs and flanker James Haskell.

England took their attacking game to a new level in their opening victory over Scotland but since then, as lock Geoff Parling described it, they have relied on character to beat Ireland and France.

Lancaster has demanded more than just sheer bloody-mindedness this weekend, with England anxious to fix the scrum and lineout frailties which have crept into their game.

"You need character because it underpins everything in rugby but ultimately if you are going to keep winning matches at the highest level you need to be hitting eight or nine out of 10 in all areas of your game," Lancaster said.

"You need to dominate physically and take your opponents to places they don't want to.

"I think Geoff was suggesting that if we are to keep winning that is where we need to be. If we win through character alone this weekend I will take it but I won't be happy with it."

England could tighten their grip on the RBS 6 Nations title if they can boost their points difference tally by putting Italy to the sword, as they have a history of doing at Twickenham.

England, whose average win at home to Italy is 48-11, currently have a points difference cushion of 17 over Wales, who face Scotland at Murrayfield tomorrow.

"As a coaching team we will have one eye on that result but it won't have any bearing on our preparation for Italy. That is done now, in terms of the players' mindset," Lancaster said.

"We want to put in a performance that reflects where we think we are. We think we are an improving team with strength in depth and, from what I have seen, a motivated team.

"We are in a good place going into this game. We have won three from three and we want to make sure we finish it off. That means concentrating on our performance."