England need to beat Italy in style and win with a flourish to silence their Six Nations critics, writes CHRIS FOY
There isn’t an individual trophy awarded to the winner of the England versus Italy fixture every year in the Six Nations, which is just as well really, because it would never have changed hands.
A fortnight ago, after France thrashed the Azzurri 73-24 in Rome, victorious captain Antoine Dupont’s trickiest task of a one-sided occasion involved carrying the giant, ugly, unwieldy Giuseppe Garibaldi Trophy over to his team-mates for a muted celebration. It certainly isn’t the prize that the French most crave, but at least they had something to show for avoiding another upset, following a 13-13 draw in Lille last year.
Despite the recent blow-out, what exists between those neighbouring countries is a bona fide rivalry — whereby ‘two groups engage in a lasting, competitive relationship’. To date, no such relationship has truly existed between England and Italy, not to the extent that a sense of jeopardy has translated into an actual reversal of the familiar hierarchy.
This afternoon at Twickenham, the expectation among the home crowd will be that the non-rivalry will go on. In terms of results, it is the sole championship fixture in this category. England’s 100 per cent win rate is the only one held by one side against any other in Europe’s marquee Test event. What it amounts to is a quarter- century of one-way traffic.
The Italians have claimed various other significant scalps. They’ve beaten each of France, Ireland, Wales, Scotland multiple times, and, away from the Six Nations, they have also managed to lower the colours of Australia and South Africa. But, along with the All Blacks, England are the opponents who have never succumbed to them. In the context of the championship, it has been a round-number rout thus far: Played 25, England wins 25.
England’s players pictured training at Twickenham on the eve of Sunday’s clash with Italy
Hosts England will be heavy favourites to beat Italy and will be expected to win handsomely
What that means is that the pressure and the expectation lie squarely on Steve Borthwick’s side on Sunday and that could prove to be an awkward burden. The dangers are not difficult to spot. They are going into a banana-skin fixture with a reshuffled line-up and faint praise ringing in their ears after the narrow win over Scotland. Condemnation of their negative tactics to reclaim the Calcutta Cup by a point have led to a circling of English wagons.
That is always their preferred in-camp mentality. Vice-captain Ellis Genge came out swinging in York about critics including ex-players being ‘out of touch’, which highlighted the mood of defiance. They will need to harness that, because Italy have plenty of fuel in the motivational tank.
Gonzalo Quesada’s men will be wounded and embarrassed after conceding 73 points at home. It was a savage ordeal and no doubt the inquest has been profoundly unpleasant. If ever a team were going to be in backlash mode, this is it. Captain Michele Lamaro and his colleagues will have been climbing the walls all week, desperate to get at England, as a first step towards redemption.
They will not be daunted at Twickenham and, frankly, that’s not surprising. First, last year’s game in Rome went down to the wire before England snatched a 27-24 comeback win, which was the closest this ‘rivalry’ has ever come to yielding a shock.
Italy will have seen how Scotland had success out wide against England and believe they have the firepower to inflict similar damage. They come armed with arguably the best centre partnership in the competition — Tommaso Menoncello and Ignacio Brex, the Benetton double-act who can bring power and dexterity, a running threat, finishing pedigree and defensive clout.
Thoughts and prayers with Fraser Dingwall and Ollie Lawrence as they try to contain those two. Similarly, England’s defence will have to shut down visiting full back Ange Capuozzo before he gets into his stride, or the Toulouse flyer could wreak havoc.
Steve Borthwick’s side have won two Six Nations games by a single point after losing to Ireland
Italy have never beaten England, who lead 1,224-380 on aggregate after their first 31 meetings
Borthwick must hope that his decision to build a back line around one club — Northampton — will have the desired effect by making England fluent and fast. This is likely to be the game when they seek to play with daring intent, before they go back into their safety-first, territorial shells for the trip to Cardiff to face Wales on Super Saturday next weekend.
There is also the small matter of an angst-driven Marcus Smith simmering on the bench and primed to make a point whenever and wherever he is deployed, most likely after the break. By the time the Harlequins playmaker enters the fray, England will hope to be in command and that could allow them to resurrect the lost habit of dominating the scoreboard emphatically. Borthwick’s men have to show they can put feet on throats and keep them there.
To do that, they need control up front and a resumption of their fine set-piece work in this campaign. Jamie George’s return to the starting XV will enhance that process, and Ellis Genge and Will Stuart can further enhance their Lions cases if they eclipse another lumpy pack in the scrum. England will also be confident that Ben Earl and both Currys, Tom and Ben, can lead another breakdown blitz and prevent the slow-ball blight which hampered attacking efforts against Scotland.
They have won ugly; now England need to win with a flourish, to bite back hard at their critics. If they can make it 26 out of 26 and showcase some creativity and cohesion in the process, the so-called ‘outside noise’ will soon fade. But that is a big if.
