Full-time: England 47-17 Italy
I said it would be a pleasant surprise if England won by 30 and that’s exactly what this is. It was by no means a perfect performance and it felt like the backs especially got a touch complacent, a little sloppy in defence. Still, they showed a few glimpses of what they’re capable of and in Jonathan Joseph have one of the most outstanding talents produced by English rugby in a long time. Cipriani looked good when he came on for a scoring cameo, but Ford impressed again. England will be quietly pleased, but know that Ireland away in two weeks will be a completely different challenge.
Speaking of Ireland, I’m off to do the MBM of their clash with France, so no time to hang around here. Cheers for reading and for all of your emails. Bye!
Updated
80 min Italy throw it into touch inside their own 22. England take it quickly and swing it left. Cipriani slides through a diagonal kick for May, but it has too much on it and goes dead.
Converted try! England 47-17 Italy (Morisi 79)
We’re checking this, but it looks good. Bisegni makes a diagonal run and cuts a swath through the white shirts, the two centres missing him badly. He’s dragged down 5m short but it’s moved right, Masi with the final pass and his centre partner shrugs off May to score in the corner. Allen converts nicely from the right-hand touchline.
78 min A horrible mess of a scrum but the ref lets it go. Italy are finishing strongly...
77 min Italy get a penalty at the scrum. Parisse calls for another, surprisingly.
76 min Masi takes it up on the crash ball and slips off the first tackle from Twelvetrees. Now Italy go along the line, but England aren’t in a charitable mood any more. McLean sends it up and it looks like the try is on, but Allen knocks on in the tackle.
75 min Croft taps it down but Italy secure possession. The ball goes loose and shoots out the back of the ruck, but Parisse picks it up and charges, determined but forlorn.
74 min Kruis wins it nicely but Wigglesworth doesn’t gain much ground with his box kick. Italy lineout 20m out on the right. Robshaw has made 14 tackles today, taking him to 40 in just two games this tournament, which is a hell of a work-rate. He’s not missed one either.
73 min Palazzani replaces Gori, which I think means all subs are on now. The two sides exchange kicks, then McLean finds yet another good touch on the Italy right, 10m from the England line.
72 min Italy are still battling away in midfield but the early spark appears to have gone; there’s absolutely nothing happening and England win the turnover outside their own 22. Twelvetrees’ kick away is poor though.
71 min Haimona is off now and Tommy Allen replaces him. Can England rack up the half-century here? Bisegni is also on for Italy, Sarto off.
70 min Cipriani lines up the conversion just in from the left touchline. Tough one for the left-hander and it drifts across the face of goal. Matt Dony writes in: “Like him or loathe him, players like Cipriani just have that knack of being involved. Things happen around him, and things happen to him. Watching Cipriani just makes me wish Gavin Henson hadn’t wasted so much of his career. Mercurial idiots.”
I’m a big fan of Cipriani. The follies of youth look to be behind him and he’s developed an outstanding all-round game at Sale. Steve Diamond deserves a lot of credit.
Try! England 47-10 Italy (Easter 69)
Could have been anyone, but the veteran Quin is at the bottom of the pile. Italy had no chance there.
Updated
68 min Italy get stripped in midfield, legally so, and Wigglesworth’s first instinct is to get it left to May. Good instinct, that. The Gloucester flyer speeds down the wing and is stripped illegally by McLean. Cipriani pops it in the corner, England win the lineout and here comes the drive...
67 min Italy win the lineout and go through the phases, but England defend resolutely and eventually the visitors spill it. Cipriani clears and Wigglesworth replaces Ben Youngs.
Never quick to smile, is Cipriani - but plenty to smile about scoring within a minute of coming on
— kevin mitchell (@kevinmitchell50) February 14, 2015
Updated
65 min Welcome back, Danny. This has been a much-improved second half from England and this could be a thrashing. Italy get the penalty here though as Croft is offside from Youngs’ box-kick. Haimona sticks it in the corner on the left.
Converted try! England 42-10 Italy (Cipriani 63)
Seven years on from his last Six Nations appearance, Cipriani replaces Ford. Croft and Mako Vunipola are on too, for Marler and Haskell. Burrell seizes on a loose ball in midfield. It’s flung left and May burns down the left, gives it inside and Cipriani is in support to cross unchallenged!
Updated
Converted try! England 35-10 Italy (Joseph 61)
Any chance at all of Cipriani coming on? I’d give him 15-20 mins or so here given that the game is about done. The new look front rows engage in a scrum near halfway and England go left. There’s an overlap as May comes off his wing, Joseph sees the gap and flies through from 45m. What a finisher this guy is.
Updated
59 min Mass changes: for Italy Manici, Aguero and Chistolini replace Ghiraldini, De Marchi and Castrogiovanni. Vunisa comes on as a blood replacement for Bergamasco. For England, Brookes and Tom Youngs replace Cole and Hartley in what we assume to be a prescribed change.
Penalty (Ford 59) England 28-10 Italy
This one’s inside the 22, slightly to the right but pretty simple for Ford.
58 min This is really, really poor from Italy. Masi knocks on taking a pass under no pressure in his 22, then, when England swarm, he holds on and concedes the penalty. Ford should knock this over no problem. Kieran Brookes and Tom Youngs are coming on.
57 min Gori is scragged well by Twelvetrees and Italy do well to retain possession. England are swamping them at the breakdown now though, the back row finally having decided to show up.
Stat on the quietly impressive Morisi.
What a try from Luca Morisi. He's carried more that anyone today (74 metres) and crossed the gainline 100% of the time. #seebeyond #ENGvITA
— Accenture Rugby (@AccentureRugby) February 14, 2015
Converted try! England 25-10 Italy (Youngs 55)
Another England penalty at the scrum. Youngs takes it quickly, with all the Italian backs turned and scores the easiest try of his life. That was dumb from Italy, going to sleep like that.
Here’s Joseph’s try.
53 min Parisse rises imperiously above the Twickenham turf to claim. Italy should clear but Gori fumbles it under pressure from Robshaw. England scrum 5m out, under the sticks.
52 min That missed tackle is Attwood’s final act as Easter replaces him. Watson looks to speed through a gap but it’s closed. Haskell carries it on and then Joseph stabs through a clever kick down the right. Italy lineout 5m from their own line.
51 min Haimona hooks a poor kick wide.
Try! England 18-10 Italy (Morisi 50)
Gori sends up a kick that bounces kindly for Sarto on the right. He can’t get away from Ford but Italy recycle quickly. Left it goes and Morisi sells Attwood with a dummy 30m and hares over on the left! Game on.
Updated
49 min With England backpeddling Ford sends it high. McLean gathers and then...
48 min England get advantage at another collapsed scrum. Twelvetrees shrugs off Haimona and then Watson looks to dance through a gap near the ruck. He’s scragged by Haimona and England are knocked back to halfway.
47 min Bortolami’s day is done and he’s replaced by Josh Furno. Matthew Rimmer writes: “Wow, so Kirsty Lucas is your sister. Are you Roade School Sports College’s most successful ever alumni?”
I think David Capel might outdo me, but, er, yes, that is where I went to school.
Penalty (Ford 46) England 18-5 Italy
Easy.
45 min Minto enters the ruck at the side and England get a penalty fractionally to the right of goal, on the 22. This should be 18-5.
44 min In fact Italy opt for the drop-out and England attack from halfway. Vurrell makes ground, then Attwood powers through the middle. Hartley carries up to the 22 and England are softening Italy up now.
43 min Vunipola makes ground but then Ford is turned over inside the 22. England win it back and Ford chips over the top, but overcooks it and the ball dribbles dead. Scrum Italy inside their own 22.
42 min England recycle but go backwards. Keeping it in the tight isn’t the way to break down such a proficient tackling side as Italy.
41 min No changes at half-time. Ford restarts the game and Italy take it in inside the 22. Back it goes to McLean and he finds a good touch up near the Italy 10m line. Attwood takes the ball and Vunipola goes on one of his charges, deep into the Italian 22. Great work from the number 8, whose ball-carrying has been excellent today.
Here we go again...
Half-time: England 15-5 Italy
Far from a classic. England have shown themselves capable of some scintillating stuff, especially when Youngs and Ford attack the gainline. Joseph too has been might impressive, but there have been far too many mistakes and missed tackles.
Mike Brown, incidentally, is conscious and still at the ground. Which is good to hear.
Here's how the first 40 minutes went. #ENGvITA #seebeyond pic.twitter.com/P1r65D7zsH
— Accenture Rugby (@AccentureRugby) February 14, 2015
Updated
40 min Right, this will be the last play of the half. In goes the ball, out comes the ball and McLean pops it into touch.
@DanLucas86 This is going to be one of those in which we struggle to keep them at bay until 60 minutes and then put three over, right?
— Ravi Nair (@palfreyman1414) February 14, 2015
39 min Attwood wins the lineout and England get another penalty as Bortolami is in at the side. “Next one no option” says the referee, as Ford kicks to the corner again. Not sure if he means a yellow card or a penalty try. Haskell takes the lineout at the back and the maul splinters. It’s held up in the maul and that’s brilliant defence from Italy, winning a scrum.
38 min Penalty England at the scrum and Ford pops it into the corner. Minto is coming back having been given the all clear, Vunisa making way.
37 min Is there anything more tedious than scrums? Yes: Brian Moore whining on about the technicalities of scrummaging.
35 min Italy’s lineout isn’t much cop either as they concede a scrum for accidental offside. Youngs breaks down the blindside from scrappy ball and offloads to Vunipola. England recycle right and May slips with the tryline begging. Then England knock on in the tight. Bah.
34 min That was a bit poor. The penalty dies and drops about 10m short. Poor decision to go for goal, I’d say. They could easily have kicked for territory. Ford clears to touch.
33 min Immediately England give another penalty away, this time on halfway, for hands in the ruck by Vunipola. Haimona, again in front of the posts, 50m out, will have another crack at goal.
32 min Haimona drills it off-target to the right though. 15-5 it remains.
31 min Haskell picks up a loose ball from an offside position and Italy have a penalty 37m out, right in front.
30 min Bergamasco makes a half-break in midfield and gives it inside to the Fijian-born Vunisa. The replacement flanker charges upfield but is on his own and gets stripped of the ball.
29 min Italy are making a change: Minto is going off for a head injury assessment so Vunisa comes on. Italy are getting sucked into the breakdown far too often and defending too narrow. It means England, with the pace of their outside backs, are dangerous every time they get it through the hands.
Converted try! England 15-5 Italy (Joseph 27)
Italy drive forward but turn it over in the England half. England go right and Joseph steps past Haimona. He sells Sarto with the dummy and speeds over on the right! What a brilliant finish from Jonathan Joseph! Ford converts.
Updated
26 min England claim the restart and spin it left along the line, before Burrell is stopped by a good solid hit from Masi. Youngs chips over the top and Sarto knocks on. With the winger out of position Youngs puts in another box kick, but it goes touch-in-goal. Back we go then for an Italy scrum near halfway. Sarto took a tumble when leaping with May for that, but he’s OK.
25 min Ford’s conversion drifts wide.
Try! England 8-5 Italy (Vunipola 24)
Seriously? It looked to me as though that was clearly held up, but the TMO disagrees and recommends the try.
Updated
Er, we’re checking a grounding. I’m sure this is held up, but the TMO is taking several looks.
24 min Kruis wins it and gives it to Haskell, who in turn offloads to Vunipola. The number 8 rumbles up to the line but he’s held up. We go back for a penalty against Bortolami for entering the maul at the side.
23 min May jinks inside again and gets up to halfway, where Ghiraldini fails to roll away and concedes a penalty. Ford puts a perfect kick up to within 5m of the Italy line.
22 min Kruis wins it at the front and Youngs sends it up high. It bounces and Joseph wins the ball back, giving it inside to Vunipola on his left. Ford should spread it but instead exchanges kicks with McLean.
Updated
21 min Haimona kicks long and May takes it out his 22. He’s tackled, back it goes to Ford and the Bath 10 clears. Haimona catches it and returns with an excellent touch-finder on the Italy left, on the 22.
Penalty (Ford 20) England 3-5 Italy
18m out, right in front and England are on the board.
Updated
19 min Kruis wins the lineout and England take it into the 22. Burrell makes ground on the crash ball and Haimona concedes a penalty for taking Youngs out off the ball. Easy three points on offer here.
18 min Gori box kicks long and, after England gather it in, Italy’s defence is bunched up. England go left and Burrell carries forward, but his pass is deliberately knocked on by Sarto. Penalty England and Ford finds a good touch inside the 22 on the left.
17 min Ooh lucky for England as Joseph’s pass is plucked out the air by and Italian, but it’s the lock Biagi. He looks to offload but England get it back and clear.
16 min England sense a vulnerability in this Italian defence. They go back and forth across the field, through the phases but they’re losing ground until May steps inside and slips a tackle.
15 min England continue to pass it along the line in their own half. Now Burrell finds a gap and offloads beautifully for Watson, who slices through. Up to within 30m of the Italy line now.
14 min Quick ball along the line from the lineout and then Haskell carries up over the 10m line.
13 min It’s a good scrum, Italy are walking backwards and England get the penalty, given against Castrogiovanni for standing up in the scrum. Ford clears to touch on the England right.
Brown is taken off on the stretcher car. We’ll restart with an England scrum 5m from their own line.
Watson will go to full-back, with Joseph moving to the wing. Twelvetrees will play 12 and Burrell 13.
Billy Twelvetrees is going to come on, I think. Brown is still flat out and this looks nasty.
Updated
13 min Chance! Haimona chips over the top and Masi gathers brilliantly! He offloads and Italy carry it forward, but it’s knocked on 5m out.
More seriously though, Brown caught his head on Masi’s shoulder as they both went after the chip. He’s down on the ground, bleeding from the nose and this looks serious. He’ll be leaving on a stretcher for a concussion test and I’d be surprised if they risked bringing him back on now.
Updated
12 min Haimona drills his kick up to the 22 on the left. Really good chance for Italy this if they can get the lineout right. They win it, but hardly cleanly. Venditti slips a tackle and gets up into the 22 on the right but then Minto is smashed by Vunipola.
11 min Italy win a messy scrum on their own 10m line. Quick passing along the line gets it right to Sarto, then it’s back inside for Parisse to make ground. This has been a highly impressive start from Italy and they get a penalty for England not rolling away, just inside the Italy half.
9 min A good strong scrum from England and Ford kicks long, but McLean gathers and runs back up to the 10m line. Gori is scragged well by Brown but the England man knocks it on.
@DanLucas86 that wasn't in the script
— Kirsty Lucas (@KirstyLucas) February 14, 2015
8 min Bortolami wins the lineout and the maul forms. It’s held up and going nowhere though, so England get the scrum.
7 min This is pretty slick handling from Italy. They’re slinging it about outside their 22 and Haimona sells Haskell with a lovely show-and-go, but can’t find a gap. No need though as Haskell holds on to his man on the ground and concedes a penalty. McLean finds a good touch just outside the England 22 on the right.
6 min Italy secure the restart and McLean launches a monster of a clearance. England take the lineout quickly and return.
5 min Haimona pushes it just wide from the touchline. Well well well. That was some pretty shocking defence, from Brown especially.
Updated
Try! England 0-5 Italy (Parisse 4)
Good ball handling skills from Italy and Morisi breaks down the left. Italy are into the 22 and their forwards are breaking the gainline. Parisse gets it 10m out on the left, slips out of a double tackle and slides over!
Updated
3 min Ford chips ahead again but this time Sarto gathers on the Italian right. He fires it infield to McLean, who clears to touch on halfway. Oh and now it’s England’s turn to lose the lineout.
2 min England go through the hands and take it up to the 10m line. It’s fired back to Ford and he finds a good touch with a diagonal kick to touch on the left. Italian lineout on their own 10m line and this time Haskell takes it. The ball goes right and Joseph makes a half break. England with possession on halfway.
Peep! With the rain pouring down – a bad sign for my Valentine’s day plans later on – Haimona kicks things off. England gather it inside the 22 and after Youngs fires a dodgy pass back to Ford on the bounce, the fly-half clears left-footed to touch. Italy’s lineout continues to wobble and Kruis nabs it.
Sounds like a decent atmosphere at Twickenham. Something that’s been lacking in recent times, from what I’ve seen (don’t blame me for not going, I’ve been here remember).
No lasers, fog or questionable dance music?! How on earth do they expect to build an atmosphere? #bbc6nations #EngvIta
— Hang the DJ (@HTDJRadio) February 14, 2015
Anthems time. Usual fayre.
Oh go on then.
Haimona is the 15th fly-half Italy have used in the Six Nations. I’ll just leave that one there, because further analysis feels a bit like rubbing it in. Speaking of rubbing it in, the BBC are now showing “highlights” of Mauro Bergamasco’s stint at scrum-half in 2009. Bloody hell has it really been six years?
Italy’s fly-half today, Kelly Haimona, weighs 17st. I think it’s fair to say that my rugby days (6’4”, 12 stone, not played for 11 years) are behind me.
“Hi Dan.” Hi, Robin Hazelhurst, whose Manic Street Preachers tab he sent me last night I’m yet to try out. “You’re not right about making money from this. Our little syndicate has each thrown in two euros and a bet on the points difference. Winner will almost be able to afford a round. I’ve gone with England by 8 as they take the traditional two steps back after the one forward. So now they’ll thump Italy comprehensively just to spite me.”
This is handy. Well, if you like stats anyway. It looks like England’s backs may have a field day.
The Italy pack will be no push over today. England may need to look out wide to unlock the Italian defence #seebeyond pic.twitter.com/hTyou30AhJ
— Accenture Rugby (@AccentureRugby) February 14, 2015
Italy do make another couple of changes. Michele Campagnaro, arguably Italy’s most exciting player, is out for at least six weeks I hear and as such Andrea Masi steps up from full-back to 13. Luke McLean drops back to full-back and Giovanbattista Venditti comes in on the left wing.
Up front, Alberto De Marchi comes in for Matias Aguero, who has a torrid time of it last weekend. It’s also worth noting that Alessandro Zanni, who is replaced here by Bergamasco, is likely to miss the rest of this tournament. It doesn’t get any easier for Italy, does it?
The first email of the day comes from Kirsty Lucas (I’d say no relation, but that’d be (a) a lie and (b) rather mean to my sister), who simply says “Clearly the best red rose to be sporting this valentines...”
It’s probably a more appropriate shirt to be wearing than my choice of Archer t-shirt.
Preamble
Afternoon folks. Will the visitors upset England in this second round of Six Nations action, asks our trail text today. Let me answer that one for you right off the bat: no. Italy are as likely to beat England as England are to win the Cricket World Cup. Some betting companies are offering odds as short (short? I don’t do betting) as 1/500 for an England win today. If you want to make money, as I understand it, this is not the place to do so from a gambling perspective.
England were highly impressive in beating Wales last Friday night, and for Stuart Lancaster to name an unchanged XXIII is the least surprising thing to happen since this very paper awarded the Fifty Shades of Grey movie just one solitary star. Injuries mean that the squad could look very different come September, but for now the focus must be on building a coherent, consistent team that can buoy national confidence by going out and winning this here Six Nations.
Italy are awful. They may have tackled a lot last Saturday, but came nowhere near running a very ordinary Ireland even close. For all their excellent work in finishing fourth in 2013, for almost two years now they’ve been an embarrassment to the notion of a Tier One side. They have but one win in the last 12 months and that against Samoa. They haven’t beaten a fellow Tier One side since surprising Ireland in the 2013 championship. They’re after an upset here:
All that said, for England to thrash their hapless visitors by 30-plus points today would come as a pleasant surprise for Stuart Lancaster, his men and their fans. Rubbish Italy may be, but they did still put in a massive 198 tackles against Ireland. You won’t run through a side that can do that, no matter who you are.
It’s a proverbial case of youth v experience today. The visitors come boasting 778 caps to England’s 373 and field four of the greatest players in their history: alongside Martin Castrogiovanni and the wonderful Sergio Parisse are the returning Marco Bortolami, age 104, and Mauro Bergamasco, 83. They have a century of caps apiece but, while their experience will be a boon for Italy, their ages and fitness will be a greater hinderance against England’s bright-eyed youngsters. Dan’s prediction: Italy will tire and England will score a few late tries to win by 20-odd.
Kick-off is at 2.30pm GMT. So 3.30pm for any of you in Rome. Here are your teams:
England
15-Mike Brown, 14-Anthony Watson, 13-Jonathan Joseph, 12-Luther Burrell, 11-Jonny May, 10-George Ford, 9-Ben Youngs; 8-Billy Vunipola, 7-Chris Robshaw (captain), 6-James Haskell, 5-George Kruis, 4-Dave Attwood, 3-Dan Cole, 2-Dylan Hartley, 1-Joe Marler
Replacements: 16-Tom Youngs, 17-Mako Vunipola, 18-Kieran Brookes, 19-Tom Croft, 20-Nick Easter, 21-Richard Wigglesworth, 22-Danny Cipriani, 23-Billy Twelvetrees
Italy
15-Luke McLean, 14-Leonardo Sarto, 13-Luca Morisi, 12-Andrea Masi, 11-Giovanbattista Venditti, 10-Kelly Haimona, 9-Edoardo Gori; 8-Sergio Parisse, 7-Francesco Minto, 6-Mauro Bergamasco, 5-Marco Bortolami, 4-George Biagi, 3-Martin Castrogiovanni, 2-Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1-Alberto De Marchi
Replacements: 16-Andrea Manici, 17-Matias Aguero, 18-Dario Chistolini, 19-Joshua Furno, 20-Samuela Vunisa, 21-Guglielmo Palazzani, 22-Tommaso Allan, 23-Giulio Bisegni
