Italy, who have lost all 30 of their previous games against England, will kick up their Six Nations campaign on Saturday in Rome.
“We are expecting England to fly up at us with a lot of line speed in defence, so it’s important our skill set is there to get around them,” Varney stated.
“They have their kicking game and a strong set-piece as well.”
England has outperformed Italy by 1,197 points to 356, but Gloucester’s Varney, a number nine, believes the class of 2024 wants to change the game in Italy under the direction of new head coach Gonzalo Quesada.
Born in Wales but eligible to play for Italy due to his grandparents, the 22-year-old told BBC Sport, “Our goal is to be the greatest Italian team ever.”
“Our forward pack faces a significant test, but if we can physically match them, our assault will be effective and we will be able to score a lot of tries.
“We have had a pretty effective offensive over the last two years. Gonazlo has arrived and, crucially for us, wants us to attack with the ball moving quickly.”
Though they have won the Wooden Spoon eight times in the last eight years, the Azzurri only won two of their five games in 2007 and 2013.
“We want to surpass Italy’s two victories from 2007 and 2013. Varney, who will start the game on the bench, continued, “We want to put in performances we are happy with and hopefully the results will take care of themselves.”
“We have to take each week as it comes and try and win every game, starting with England.”
After making his international debut against Scotland in 2020 as a 19-year-old, Varney has won 24 caps and claims his confidence has increased since then.
“I was quite young in my first Six Nations and obviously confidence is a big thing when you are playing at this level, but I’ve worked on my mental game,” he said.
