20 min: Italy had the chance to play with the ball but Garbisi kicks away possession. Too deep and England take the mark and hoof it back to halfway. Italy though win a soft penalty at the line-out. England, after such a convincing start, have started to look a little messy.
19 min: Brex hammers M Smith who spills the ball. Then Italy swarm and Varney kicks into space in the backfield. F Smith gathers and launches a monster clearing kick around half-way. Big net gain from the Italians.
18 min: England win the line-out with Itoje but from there there’s not much cohesion. Just one-up runners charging with intent. Italy hold firm five metres from their own line. It goes left then back towards the right touch where Freeman tries to off-load in contact but the ball is snaffled by Gallagher. Then England lose their feet as they try to win it back and give away the penalty. Another red zone entry blown.
16 min: England win a penalty inside Italy’s territory and rather than aim for poles, F Smith nudges to the corner. About seven metres out.
TRY! England 7-7 Italy (Capuozzo, 14)
With their first attack of the game! That’s from nowhere, but it was so clinical. Clean ball off the line-out gave Garbisi time to dink a kick over the top. It was gathered and they kept the attack alive. Down the line and Ione in the right tram this time chipped ahead for Capuozzo. The bounce was kind and the fullback gathered and dotted down. The conversion brings us level again.
13 min: Italy exit well. That’s an area where they have certainly improved. Sleightholme catches the clearing kick and keeps it in touch. F Smith tries to find Freeman on the right wing with a cross kick but it doesn’t come off. Almost.
12 min: Firm runners from England, they’re well connected today. The move ends with a Dingwall kick into the corner that dribbles out of touch on the left. But that was a series of collisions won by men in white. Itoje with a nifty short ball from Genge. Marcus Smith joining the line and feeding Chessum. Earl with strong carries. Good rugby.
10 min: England get a good shove on and attack down the large space towards the left. But Italy’s defence is strong and Freeman off first phase is nailed. Then it’s a scramble but no yards are made. Eventually Fin Smith chucks a no-look off-load that goes forward and Italy clear. Wasted opportunity there for England.
Sad news for Lawrence. His game, and maybe tournament, is over. Hamstring by the looks of it. Marcus Smith will come on at fullback with Daly moving to midfield. Hopefully Lawrence will be back soon. That looked really bad as he went down in a heap.
8 min: We’ll have an England scrum five out on the right. It could have been a try were it not for Menoncello who came across to clatter Freeman down England’s right wing. The Italian then got up and stole the ball. Italy couldn’t recycle and exit and the men cleaning up were pushed over their own line. Swift work from England off that line-out. I felt for sure Freeman would have scored after being put in space. But Menoncello’s brilliance kept him at bay.
7 min: England win the scrum penalty so get a free shot. They go down the blindside with Lawrence once again busting through the line and up the field. Willis involved again. He’s had some start. No advantage so it’ll be an England line-out throw on Italy’s 22.
6 min: Italy knock on so England have the first scrum feed. But not before Willis showed some lovely touches with a pick-up off the deck and off-load for Mitchell. The scrummie couldn’t hold on so we’re back for the scrum. England’s back row look in the mood.
TRY! England 7-0 Italy (Willis, 4)
They’ve gone 60 metres in a flash! After Varney was isolated and spilled in contact, England were up the field in no time. First Daly with a strong counter down the left. Then Freeman down the right wing after another break. Then it was about continuity and Willis steamed onto a short pass. He was short of the line but reached out a meaty arm to dot down. Smith with the extras and England are up and running.
2 min: England go short with the kick-off but Italy are wise to it. A bit of kick tennis ends with an English line-out back in their own half. A decent strike off the back of it makes yards with Lawrence busting over the gainline, but the Italians swarm and win a penalty on the ground. They’ll have the line-out in English territory.
Anthems are done! England in white. Italy in blue. Twickenham looks a picture in a blanket of sunlight.
The home side to kick off. Here we go.
If England want to win the Six Nations this season they’ll likely have to thwack Italy and then Wales by hefty margins.
France’s point difference is +106. England’s is -3. So you’d expect the home side to have something of a cricket score in mind today.
Not so according to the skipper, who is urging his mates to keep the main thing the main thing.
England have kicked the ball more than any other side this Six Nations. They’ve hoofed it 120 times but only Scotland have a lower kick retention rate than England’s 10%. So maybe they should do it less?
Meanwhile are top for gain-line success (63%), tackle evasion (26%) and dominant carries (38%), so there’s something to work on.
Gerard Meagher goes beyond mere stats as he cooks up a tasty narrative. Here he asks if England have the right ingredients to be successful, or if we should be pointing fingers at the head chef:
Have you got some sympathy for Marcus Smith, the man who held the keys to this England attack but has since been plonked in the sidecar?
“Has England’s attack looked clunky because of Marcus’s performances or because of the philosophy the team is imbued with? I’d say the latter,” says Ugo Monye.
Do you agree with the former winger?
Antoine Dupont has ruptured his ruptured cruciate ligament
No matter who you support, this is big news.
Antoine Dupont, the world’s best player, (by all means, fight me in the comments) will be sidelined for some time after picking up a nasty injury yesterday in France’s win over Ireland.
Dupont gave the update in a post on Instagram on Sunday afternoon, writing: “Cruciate ligaments ruptured. It is the beginning of a new challenge, I will see you in a few months on the pitches.”
Italy team
Unsurprisingly, after their shellacking against France, there are several changes for Italy.
Six in fact. Matt Gallagher, who was born in London and represented England’s U20s on four occasions, makes his Six Nations debut on the wing in place of Simone Gesi.
Monty Ione is fit again and starts on the other wing which means the dangerous Ange Capuozzo moves to fullback. Tommasso Allan drops to the bench.
Stephen Varney starts at scrum-half. The Three changes to the pack sees Giacomo Nicotera, Marco Riccioni and Exeter’s Ross Vintcent all coming in.
Italy: 15-Capuozzo; 14-Ioane, 13-Brex, 12-Menoncello, 11-Gallagher, 10-P Garbisi, 9-Varney; 1-Fischetti, 2-Nicotera, 3-Riccioni, 4-N Cannone, 5-Ruzza, 6-Negri, 7-Lamaro (capt) 8-Vintcent
Replacements: 16-Lucchesi, 17-Spagnolo, 18-Ferrari, 19-Favretto, 20-Zuliani, 21-L Cannone, 22-Page-Relo, 23-Allan
England team
Marcus Smith’s move to the bench is one of three changes to the team that squeaked past Scotland last time out.
Elliot Daly slots in at full-back to make his first Test start at 15 in four years.
Jamie George starts at hooker and will become the seventh English men’s player to reach 100 Tests. Luke Cowan-Dickie shifts to the bench.
Fraser Dingwall gets a go at centre in his third Test start. He replaces Henry Slade.
On the bench, Jack van Poortvliet is preferred to Harry Randall.
England: 15-Daly; 14-Freeman, 13-Lawrence, 12-Dingwall, 11-Sleightholme; 10-F Smith, 9-Mitchell; 1-Genge, 2-George, 3-Stuart, 4-Itoje (capt), 5-Chessum, 6-T Curry, 7-Earl, 8-T Willis.
Replacements: 16-Cowan-Dickie, 17-Baxter, 18-Heyes, 19-T Hill, 20-Cunningham-South, 21-B Curry, 22-Van Poortvliet, 23-M Smith
Preamble
Now then, are England in a Six Nations title challenge? Mathematically they’ve got a real shout thanks to France’s demolition of Ireland yesterday. In fact, if England bag a bonus point win this afternoon, they’ll leapfrog Ireland into second place on the table with a final showdown against Wales to come. Have we officially entered ‘whisper it quietly’ territory yet?
Of course nothing is guaranteed here. Despite Italy shipping 11 tries to France in their last match, there’s no doubt they’re an improved outfit. Sure they haven’t quite fired on all cylinders this campaign but they’ve got enough firepower in the backline to hurt any defence. However, they are brittle in the tight five and around the fringe on defence, and if England can find a way to get out of second gear on attack, they could put on a rare show at HQ.
Steve Borthwick has copped some criticism for his pragmatic kick-heavy approach. But the team is winning, and, barring a proper mess against the two weakest teams, they could finish second having placed third, fourth, third and fifth in the last four years.
Can they do the business today? We’ll find out once things kick-off at 3pm. Team news and further updates to come til then. And if you’ve got thoughts on this game or any other this weekend, feel free to write in.
