Match report
England are back at the top of the Six Nations table, with 13 points after claiming five today. Today was a struggle for long periods, but their finishers got the job done. It’s now 17 games unbeaten, but Scotland and Ireland will put that run under severe scrutiny based on today’s evidence.
Credit is due to Italy, who came with an unconventional game plan and deservedly led at half-time. They were overpowered in the end but answered their many critics with an attention-grabbing, competitive display. Thanks for joining me, and enjoy the rest of your Sundays.
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Dylan Hartley speaks about Italy’s tactics: “We found something out there that we’ve never really seen before, and it took half an hour for us to realise. We wanted to play the ball quicker and around the ruck... I was confused by it, but we hit the gain line, hit gaps and kept the ball moving.”
Here’s man of the match Joe Launchbury: “Italy came with a plan around the breakdown, took us a while to work it out. We let ourselves down in a couple of areas today, but we’ll come out firing in a couple of weeks’ time. We’ve got two weeks to address those areas.”
Full time: England 36-15 Italy
England get the job done, but this match was much closer than anyone expected. Italy led at half-time, and were within two points with 20 minutes to go before England pulled away at the death, helped by Jack Nowell’s two tries off the bench.
Try! England 36-15 (Nowell's second)
Exeter’s Slade and Nowell combine artfully on the right, before Nowell recovers from a hefty tackle to crash over the line. Farrell kicks the conversion to give the scoreline a flattering look.
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78 mins: Joe Launchbury, who finally foiled Italy’s no-ruck tactics in the second half, is named man of the match.
76 mins: A raft of replacements, with Tomaso d’Apice on for Ornel Gega, and George Biagi on for Marco Fuser. For England, Henry Slade replaces try scorer Te’o and Harlequins’ Jack Clifford also comes on.
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Try! England 29-15 (Te'o)
England wrap it up thanks to Kyle Sinckler, the replacement barrelling through a gap, allowing Brown space to offload and find Ben Te’o, who scores on his first Test start. Farrell adds the conversion, and England will escape with the win.
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71 mins: Has Jack Nowell, one of Eddie Jones’ finishers, just finished off Italy? If England do hold on, they’ll also claim a bonus point after scoring their fourth try.
That was Jack Nowell's 10th try for England. pic.twitter.com/9xgF3TnoBH
— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) February 26, 2017
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Try! England 22-15 Italy (Nowell)
England made a meal of that, but Nowell gets over the line on the opposite side, despite a shoddy crossfield pass from George Ford. Farrell misses the conversion – just 1 from 5 for him today.
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69 mins: George picks out Lawes, and England organise and power towards the line, but fall just short – they have to reset and try again...
68 mins: England win the ball, and Youngs sends a precise kick towards the corner. Daly is onto it like lightning, but as he prepares to dive onto it, Canna clears it with his right boot! After some confusion, a lineout for England...
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66 mins: Another handling error from England has Eddie Jones grimacing with frustration, and Italy have the scrum in midfield.
65 mins: Farrell’s penalty is caught in the breeze, and carries beyond the left upright. A chance for breathing space is passed up.
64 mins: England scrum, and the ball is ferried to Nowell, who slips on the pitch – it’s been raining for the last few minutes. Youngs keeps England moving forward, and offloads to Brown, who is caught early by Steyn. England penalty...
62 mins: Carlo Canna, who started Italy’s first two matches, is on at fly-half with Allan too hurt to continue. Two points in this, with 18 minutes to go, and the atmosphere inside Twickenham is suddenly far less relaxed...
Try! England 17-15 Italy (Campagnaro)
And the moment I write that, England switch off and Campagnaro wriggles into space – helped by George Ford missing a tackle – and creeps over the try line. With Allan down, Padovani takes the conversion, but misses the chance to level the scores.
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59 mins: Italy inch forward, but fly-half is Allan down with a shoulder injury, leaving them short of creativity...
58 mins: Two more Italy changes – Leicester’s Michele Rizzo is on for Andrea Lovotti, and Maxime Mbanda replaces Favaro in the back row.
57 mins: Nowell makes an immediate impact, darting inside Nathan Hughes and breezing over the try line – but Hughes was blocking McLean’s path to tackle.No try, and a penalty to Italy.
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56 mins: Here come a trio of England finishers: Jamie George, Mako Vunipola and Jack Nowell replace Hartley, Marler and Jonny May, who didn’t get the chance to shine.
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54 mins: Italy enjoy a spell of attacking play, but England win it back at the breakdown. I wonder if Conor O’Shea has a different trick up his sleeve. Ben Youngs wallops the ball into touch to end the danger.
52 mins: Care and Ford combine well, before McLean gets back to make a vital tackle. Care goes off, replaced by Ben Youngs. Italy make two changes: Tommaso Benvenuti and Pietro Ceccarelli are on, replacing wing Giulio Bisegni and Lorenzo Cittadini, who missed a tackle on Launchbury moments ago.
50 mins: A spell of swirling high kicks to a chorus of ‘Swing Low’. Everyone of an English persuasion feeling much more comfortable now.
@niallmcveigh But the game isn't over yet... https://t.co/o37xk0cMep
— William Hargreaves (@billhargreaves) February 26, 2017
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48 mins: After that foggy, penalty-ridden first half, England can sniff a bonus point, with Launchbury collecting the ball and barrelling forward. Italy intercept, but avoiding the ruck is emphatically not working any more.
Try! England 17-10 Italy (Daly)
England are a very different proposition in this second half, with the pack beginning to dominate. Itoje offloads to Haskell, who powers forward and sends the ball left. Ben Te’o works it to Daly, who crosses with ease. Farrell converts this time.
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Try! England 10-10 Italy (Care)
Danny Care takes it quickly, bursting from the centre of the field to the left-hand touchline and catching the Italian defence cold. Farrell misses the conversion, admittedly from a tight angle.
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42 mins: England turn over the ball to cement that positive start. Italy, ironically enough, were trying desperately to force a ruck, but Itoje denied them. The first scrum splinters, and England have a penalty...
41 mins: England are back on the field with Jones’ voice still ringing in their ears, and a beautiful long diagonal kick from Elliot Daly puts Italy under immediate pressure.
Peep!
The second half is under way, with 50-1 shots Italy leading England 10-5.
I’ve just seen the sad news about Bill Paxton. Here’s how I’ll remember him – giving absolutely 100% in a VT for a theme park ride:
“No rucks, what is the problem? Just pick up the ball and run with it and make territory” says I. Wilson (or possibly I, Wilson). Fair point: what Italy are doing is unusual but entirely legal, and England’s constant questioning is driven by the fact they can’t deal with it.
Hey @jameshaskell Couple of quid on eBay#Engvita #6nations2017 pic.twitter.com/siMKIJy1Xb
— Gavin Curnow (@GavinCurnow) February 26, 2017
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Half time: England 5-10 Italy
Hands up who saw this coming? England have been woeful, Italy’s tactical tweaks causing havoc among their forwards, and the visitors deservedly lead at half time through Giovanbattista Venditti’s opportunistic try. More soon...
Converted try! England 5-10 Italy (Venditti)
Allan’s penalty clatters off the right post, but as it drops, Venditti is the quickest man on the pitch, clutching the ball and going over! Allan converts, and Italy will lead at half time...
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39 mins: England aim to add some gloss to the scoreline, Lawes powering through again – but the ball is lost, and Italy break away. Van Schalkwyk strides between the lines, the ball is worked to Campagnaro, and Italy have a penalty in front of the posts!
37 mins: England take a more direct approach via Courtney Lawes, before Care dances through a gap, getting through one-on-one with Padovani. He tries to lift the ball over the full-back, who keeps his cool, collects it and calls a mark.
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36 mins: Haskell and Hartley are still hassling the referee over Italy’s avoidance of rucks. They look a bit daft, to be honest. Gori has gone off, replaced by fellow Treviso man Giorgio Bronzini.
35 mins: As Gori receives treatment after a clash with Farrell, a long, meandering kick stays the wrong side of touch, from an England perspective. That challenge is reviewed, but officials find nothing wrong with Farrell holding his line and offering a shoulder to Gori.
34 mins: No ruck from Italy again, but Hughes makes use of this time, bustling forward into space – but as the ball is worked left, Care’s careless pass is intercepted!
“You would think Hartley would understand the rules of the game by now,” says Chris in Cork, who I’ll wager has enjoyed this first half.
Drop goal! England 5-3 Italy (Allan)
Padovani pushes England onto the back foot, and the ball is worked back to Allan, who is in prime position to tuck away a drop goal!
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32 mins: Parisse wins a penalty and takes it quickly, but Italy can’t find a gap in the white wall from 10 yards out. Te’o and Ford hold up Campagnaro, but Italy maintain possession...
31 mins: James Haskell asks Poite what he’s supposed to do when Italy fail to engage in the breakdown. “I’m a referee, not a coach” he fires back, not unreasonably.
30 mins: 72% of possession has been in England’s half so far, and Eddie Jones has just been down to the touchline to have strong words with his team.
28 mins: England do well to wrestle the ball back, Itoje diving smartly to collect from a knock on. England make hard work of it, but eventually get the ball back to Ford, who clears into touch.
27 mins: Another promising lineout for Italy, which Parisse hauls in. Itoje is penalised for tackling the Italian captain in mid-air. Italy kick for the corner, and are within yards of the try line...
26 mins: After such a strong opening quarter, Italy will feel deflated to find themselves behind. It was an effective piece of brute force from England, an appropriate breakthrough after an attritional start.
Try! England 5-0 Italy (Cole)
England win a lineout, and Dan Cole locks onto the back of a maul that powers over the try line. Relief for England, although Farrell misses the conversion. It’s not been his best day so far.
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22 mins: Italy’s refusal to create rucks is bothering England – with Dylan Hartley complaining that their players are constantly offside. Poite tells him “I can understand you’re frustrated, but that’s the law”.
21 mins: Gega aims for Steyn from the lineout, but overthrows, and England collect the ball. They find space on the right, Te’o stepping between tackles – but his pass to May is deflected into touch.
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20 mins: Once again, Italy don’t contest the breakdown, but after an exchange of big kicks, Ford finds touch to give England some breathing space.
18 mins: Tomasso Allan, from a similar distance but on the opposite side of the field, misses wide right. Italy could be 6-0 ahead, and the fly-half had to take one of those chances.
16 mins: Italian penalty as the England scrum collapses, and Allan kicks for another dangerous lineout. Parisse collects, but an errant pass allows Te’o to intercept. A lovely offload from Daly finds Farrell, but his kick is wayward. Italy come back at England, and win another kickable penalty...
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15 mins: A very slow start from England, with individual errors keeping them largely pegged back in their own half.
14 mins: Brown finds a pocket of space down the right flank, and Gori is caught offside – but Farrell’s kick dribbles beyond the try line and out of play.
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12 mins: Parisse collects a high ball under pressure from Daly, before Hughes does likewise with blue shirts advancing. No Italian players engage, meaning no ruck forms, which causes momentary confusion in the England ranks.
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10 mins: England concede another penalty, and Italy set up an attacking lineout. They can’t capitalise, and it’s England ball – but not before Poite has a stern word about the state of the lineouts so far.
8 mins: An England lineout is stopped as Italy encroach, and the hosts take a scrum. Italy’s scrum, led by Andrea Lovotti, push the England pack back and earn a penalty.
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6 mins: Another Italy attack is snuffed out by Elliot Daly’s tackle on Padovani, with Itoje staying on his feet and forcing a penalty.
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4 mins: Hughes’ second error gives Tomasso Allan the chance to kick some early points from 25 yards, but misses, skewing his effort wide of the left upright.
3 mins: A first scrum, where England have a three stone-plus advantage. Italy win the ball and Campagnaro breaks through the lines with a diagonal burst. Gori moves the ball left, and Hughes concedes a penalty...
2 mins: Care’s kick swirls in a stiff breeze, causing Italy to spill the ball, but they regain possession. Gori kicks, Brown collects, but Nathan Hughes knocks on.
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1 min: Edoardo Gori, Italy scrum-half and part of the team’s Treviso-based fulcrum, sends a searching kick upfield that Mike Brown gathers.
We're off!
George Ford gets the game started. The referee is Romain Poite, who took charge of Scotland’s win over Ireland.
Kick-off is coming up... after another ad break. Oh, for the days of Grandstand.
Owen Farrell leads England out as a special treat for his 50th cap, as the players assemble on the field under a slate-grey sky. Time for the national anthems:
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Here’s Eddie Jones:
“Italy beat South Africa in November, and they’ve always got one game in them. The biggest game for every team in the Six Nations is us. We’re looking to make a quicker start [than against Wales]. Ben [Te’o] has got quick feet, our 10 and 12 are both excellent passers of the ball, so there’ll be opportunities for him. Owen [Farrell] is a real leader in our team, I know his next 50 caps will be better than his first 50. If we’ve got the right attitude, we’ll put in a good performance, and a good performance is what we need.”
“Everytime I see Robin Hazlehurst’s name on the MBM I think of Ronnie Hazlehurst, composer of the Two Ronnies’ theme music” says Andrew Benton. Any excuse:
Owen Farrell gets his 50th cap today. Here’s Paul Rees on a player who has come on leaps and bounds under Eddie Jones:
Eddie Jones has made four changes from the narrow win over Wales. Ben Te’o replaces Jonathan Joseph, who is left out of the 23, Jonny May is in on the wing for Jack Nowell, and Danny Care gets a start at scrum-half. The pack remains the same, save for James Haskell, who is back after a long injury lay-off. In one of rugby’s more curious recent stories, Haskell was forced to deny that he had died back in December.
Conor O’Shea speaks, and confirms a late change, with Albania-born Ornel Gega replacing Leo Ghiraldini in the front row.
“We’ve got proud, proud players, and we’ve had a terrible 120 minutes [since leading Wales 7-3 at half-time]. We’re asking the players to give everything they have, England are a brilliant side but we’re not going to roll over. The game is about energy and we haven’t had a huge amount of it, but we know we’re capable of much better.”
“Tricky game for England this in terms of Lions berths” says Robin Hazlehurst.
“Play a stormer and it will be given an asterisk, make a mistake and your plane ticket is gone. Webb and Williams L, Sexton and Murray, and the whole Scottish team (except the front row) put their noses forward yesterday, hard to see how any England player can really impress like that. Sorry Italy, but it’s true.”
The weekend so far
England kick off this match in third place in the Six Nations table, although they’ll return to the top with a win. Ireland are currently in top spot, after Jonny Sexton led them past France in Dublin:
Scotland are making it a three-way battle for the title, and ended a ten-year wait for victory over Wales with a commanding win at Murrayfield:
The final two rounds see Ireland go to Cardiff, before hosting England. Scotland travel to Twickenham next, with Italy at home in their final game. England could still avoid any last-day drama by winning the Calcutta Cup, and hoping Wales do them a favour against Ireland.
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Preamble
David Miliband becoming Prime Minister. Britain winning Eurovision. Towie’s Mark Wright playing James Bond. All more likely than Italy winning this match, if you ask the bookies. The Azzurri are available at 50-1 to snap England’s 16-game unbeaten run, and cause the biggest shock in Six Nations history.
It’s no surprise that the focus has been on the potential margin of English victory. Eddie Jones has urged his side to be ruthless, conscious of the marker Ireland put down and with a Dublin trip and the Calcutta Cup still to come. Jones has made changes, with Ben Te’o making his first Test start and James Haskell returning from long-term injury.
Wounded pride aside, Italy will be conscious of keeping the scoreline respectable. Recent form has left Conor O’Shea’s team much closer to Georgia, pressed against the glass ceiling, than any of their Six Nations opponents. That has led to renewed talk over whether Italy merit their place in this tournament. Nobody expects them to win, but it’s imperative that they compete.
The teams
England: Mike Brown, Jonny May, Ben Te’o, Owen Farrell, Elliot Daly, George Ford, Danny Care; Nathan Hughes, James Haskell, Maro Itoje, Courtney Lawes, Joe Launchbury, Dan Cole, Dylan Hartley (c), Joe Marler.
Finishers Replacements: Jamie George, Mako Vunipola, Kyle Sinckler, Tom Wood, Jack Clifford, Ben Youngs, Henry Slade, Jack Nowell.
Italy: Edoardo Padovani, Giulio Bisegni, Michele Campagnaro, Luke McLean, Giovanbattista Venditti, Tommaso Allan, Edoardo Gori; Sergio Parisse (c), Simone Favaro, Abraham Steyn, Andries van Schalkwyk, Marco Fuser, Lorenzo Cittadini, Ornel Gega, Andrea Lovotti.
Replacements: Leonardo Ghiraldini, Michele Rizzo, Pietro Ceccarelli, George Biagi, Maxime Mbanda, Giorgio Bronzini, Carlo Canna, Tommaso Benvenuti.
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