Luther Burrell has claimed that England's team spirit is driving them on to be more "confrontational" following their 21-16 win over Wales in the Six Nations opener.
England made an impressive start to their campaign with a victory in Cardiff, and Burrell believes that the current mood in the squad can help Stuart Lancaster's team to more success ahead of Saturday's meeting with Italy.
"We are like a tight band of brothers and it's fantastic to be a part of. We all get on well with each other, we've all got each others' back," Burrell told reporters.
"This team has a strong culture. We know exactly what we're about. We have a strong belief in the way that we want to play and the way that we want to represent the nation.
"We don't want to take a backwards step. We want to be confrontational. We can't afford to let the game come to us. We have to go out there and meet it head on and that's something Stuart and the rest of the coaches are really trying to instil in us."
Lancaster has named an unchanged 23-man squad for the visit of Italy to Twickenham.