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Half-time: Italy 10-12 England
Not sure what to make of that. It wasn’t a classic. But I think the score is a fair reflection of the match. England have been better – much better – than previous weeks. Better kicks, better chases, better at the point of contact. Ben Earl has been magnificent. Italy have been stodgy but for one outstanding line break from Menoncello. Still in the balance. Both teams with more to offer.
TRY! Italy 10-12 England (Roebuck, 40+1)
What an end to the half! Italy will be kicking themselves. They had the scrum and opted to run it out after winning the ball at the back. But Zuiliani was turned over and England came roaring back down the right with Roebuck. England kept hammering the line and inched upfield. With bodies knackered and clustered won the left, Smith looked up and saw Roebuck by himself on the right. The kick was brilliant, the catch, gather and step was better. And with the conversion England take the lead.
40 min: Itoje is lifted high and pinches a line-out on halfway. Pepper runs it back into traffic. Spencer lifts a high kick but Underhill spilled it. Italy will have the scrum feed. If they can avoid giving away a penalty they’ll close out the half with a five point lead.
38 min: England lose their feet after building nicely and give away a penalty. In that play Earl – for the millionth time this season – made ground after contact. Brex stood up well on defence. So did Ferrari and Garbisi who combined to win the penalty.
37 min: England with a chance to strike back as they force Italy to throw from inside their own 22. But they lose their heads and give away a soft free kick fro drifting too close to the Italian line. P Garbisi kicks down town.
TRY! Italy 10-5 England (Menoncello, 35)
England’s midfield cut in half! Outstanding line from my pick as the best midfielder in the world right now. Italy kept hammering the line off a line-out and made some ground down the left win with Ioane and then Lynagh. They recycled and a short pass back against the grain found the imperious Menoncello who put on the afterburners and sprinted away from the chasing England players from about 30 metres out. Great finish and the extras off the tee open up a five point lead.
32 min: Underhill’s wonky ears are bleeding, so that gives us a chance to read some views from some of you:
“What a difference between this game and Sco v Fra. Like the change between top flight and second league in any sport”, says Philip H.
Stephen Vallely concurs: “OMG Daniel. This is dire beyond belief. England seem to have the knack of dragging every team down to their level of boring!
30 min: A scrappy line-out and messy ball gives P Garbisi no platform to kick. As a result, the clearance lands right on Roebuck who runs it back and makes good ground. England hit the ruck at speed and suddenly bodies are free down the left. Atkinson kicks instead of keep it through the hands and it goes out. Italy win the line-out but England are back on the ball after another nothing hoof from the home team.
28 min: Quesada is waving his arms about in the coach’s box. Not sure what he’s upset about but his team needs to pull their socks up. They’re back in their own half with a line-out feed. This score reflects the nature of the game, I’d say.
TRY! Italy 3-5 England (Freeman, 26)
Quality from England! It started off the line-out from the scrum penalty. It went over the top and Earl was charging upfield. From there they had all the momentum and when Smith changed direction to move it from right to left, they had Freeman hovering down the left tram all on his own. The final pass was delivered by big Coles, who couldn’t have flung that any better.
Smith misses the extras.
25 min: Another scrum penalty for England! That was against the feed. A few things aren’t working, but Genge and Hayes are at least doing their bit.
23 min: Loose from England off that scrum. Atkinson and Smith got in a tangle with the former running a line for the latter on the loop. But the pass was poor and Smith knocked-on. That won’t fill English fans with a lot of confidence.
22 min: After gathering the restrt, Italy launch a high kick that Ioane chases, but he spills. Scrum to England on halfway all the way to their right.
Penalty! Italy 3-0 England (P Garbisi, 21)
First blood to the Italians! A gimme penalty is nudged over.
20 min: England take the line-out but it’s stripped. And that placed a whole lot of England players off-side. A strange little passage ends with an Italy penalty inside England’s 22. I must confess, I’m not entirely sure what happened.
20 min: Italy enjoy their best few minutes. They didn’t go anywhere, really, but they looked more assured on the ball. Ioane involved again. Cannone too. It ends with P Garbisi raking a grubber from centre field out to touch on England’s 22. Jamie George looks in trobule. Second time he’s need a look at his shoulder.
18 min: Earl makes great groubd after contact off a line-out but the ball is turned over. That transition offers Ital;y a chance to launch down the right and Ioane has it and chips ahead. It’s a bit too long and Freeman sweeps round to clean up inside the try area. But Italy have the ball after the restart and are inching their way back to England’s 22. But Itoje is there, down low to steal a turnover.
16 min: England win the scrum battle and get the penalty. They roar in celebration. Genge was immense there. Smith hoofs the ball out beyond halfway. Much better from England.
15 min: Italy knock on after some enterprising play. Brex and Menoncello involved. The latter attempted a raking grubber from the centre of the park as he aimed for the right corner. It was charged down but he was quickest on the looping loose ball. He then attempted an offload for Lynagh on his right shoulder but it was spilled. So England have the scrum feed between halfway and their own 22 on their left. Italy will want to put pressure on this. Genge in a prolonged chat with the ref.
13 min: Cannone charges Smith’s kick, causing a moment of panic in the England ranks. They manage to mop up the loose ball and clear. We’ll have an Italian line-out just inside their half. They win it before A Garbisi box kicks. England knock on and Italy launch an attack down the left with Ioane on the ball.
12 min: Genge needs a patch up as he gets ready to pack down on a scrum. He’s bleeding from his head but he’s ready to go. England’s feed on halfway close to their right touch. But Italy get the freekick. Not sure why England couldn’t get organised. Garbisi lifts a high kick that is well held by Roebuck just beyond his 22. Spencer returns the favour and England win the ball back. They’ve retained four box kicks already.
10 min: P Garbisi hoofs an awful kick straight to Freeman who canters down the right wing. He’s up to the 22 and offloads brilliantly to Atkinson. But he’s isolated and is swamped by three retreating Italians who win the penalty seven metres from their own line. Now Italy, off the line-out, are marching forward on halfway with one of the Cannone brothers on the ball.
9 min: Will England regret not taking the three points? The line-out is spilled by Coles and Lamaro wriggles his body amidst the morass of the forming maul and forces the turnover. But England are back on the ball building between Italy’s 22 and halfway. A Garbisi makes a good shot on Pepper, knocking him out of touch with the help of Lynagh on England’s left wing.
7 min: Very good from England and they win the penalty at the floor as Italy don’t roll away. Good continuity, the move started with Genge on the angle and ended with Itoje off-loading for the onrushing Earl. Smith has things moving at great speed. England look very sharp. The penalty is nudged to the corner…
6 min: Lynagh shoots up but Daly slips him. The England fullback then puts in a grubber to the corner to give Murley a chase. It’s slightly overcooked, but this is positive stuff from England.
5 min: Spencer snipes down the blind on the right and dinks a kick to the corner. It bobbles just a little further away from where he wanted it to stop and Italy will have the line-out in their own 22. They win it, but are put under immediate pressure. A raking box kick finds touch beyond their 22.
3 min: England string nine phases together. They inch their way forward until they kick but gather it back on Italy’s 22. A cross-field kick goes from left to right and Italy knock-on. That means England have the scrum feed just beyond the 22. Sharp and accurate kicking from England early. The chasers have been swift as well.
2 min: George hits his jumper from England’s first line-out, but Italy have it back soon after and kick on Daly who runs it back.
Kick-off!
Righto, anthems done, the fireworks have been set off, the smoke has cleared and away we go!
Ben Earl walks out onto the pitch by himself on the occasion of his 50th Test.
Rome looks delicious! The only stadium in the competition I’ve yet to visit.
Loads of England fans in attendance. A lack of support won’t be an excuse for them.
Does regular contributor Guy Hornsby speak for all England fans?
“I am not full of confidence today, Daniel. We are coming to this in semi-disarray, falling apart off the back of our 12 match run, now a distant memory. Against a team on the up full of excellent players, there are so many big battles, no more so than their centre partnership. You feel Brex and Menoncello v Atkinson and Freeman could decide it. Atkinson is a huge talent but what a way to come back into the team. Freeman is arguably one of our best players, but a work in progress at 13. If their defence falters, we could get torn open. You feel the battle up front will go a long way to deciding it, but make no mistake: on form, Italy winning will be no shock. England have a mountain to climb. A gritty win today will be just fine with many England fans.”
Update on England's team
With Tom Curry injuring himself during the warm-up, Sam Underhill will start.
Chandler Cunningham-South moves to the bench.
That changes the complexity of England’s second half. Underhill won’t feel like a major departure from Curry but Cunningham-South is a different sort of athlete. Along with Ollie Chessum England’s bench now looks pretty hefty. Curious to see if that makes a difference.
England: 15 Elliot Daly; 14 Tom Roebuck, 13 Tommy Freeman, 12 Seb Atkinson, 11 Cadan Murley; 10 Fin Smith, 9 Ben Spencer; 1 Ellis Genge, 2 Jamie George, 3 Joe Heyes, 4 Maro Itoje, 5 Alex Coles, 6 Guy Pepper, 7 Sam Underhill , 8 Ben Earl.
Replacements: 16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Bevan Rodd, 18 Trevor Davison, 19 Ollie Chessum, 20 Chandler Cunningham-South 21 Henry Pollock, 22 Jack Van Poortvliet, 23 Marcus Smith
The crows have been circling, the wolves have been howling, the omens have been, well, ominous.
Here’s some reading as we build up:
Michael Aylwin wonders if this is Italy’s best chance:
Ugo Monye says that England’s secret weapon ain’t so secret anymore:
Robert Kitson argues that fresh faces could make the difference:
And Gerard Meagher heard from Jamie George:
Underhill slots into the starting team.
Now a question of who moves onto the bench.
Tom Curry limps off before kick-off!
The mood has darkened ahead of the opening whistle as Tom Curry hobbles off with an injury during warm-up.
Sam Underhill will start. Chandler Cunningham-South will move to the bench.
We’ve had our first correspondenc and it’s from Paul Moody who is in Brazil.
“[I’ve got] mixed feelings as a London born fella. Had hopes for England , but they have met reality hard. Still hope excitement,
Canoa quebrada, ceara”
England team
Steve Borthwick has made nine changes to his team, more than any other England coach in the Six Nations.
Tommy Freeman is the only backline player to keep his place in the starting team but he’s been shifted to outside centre, joining Seb Atkinson who has been tasked with providing punch in midfield.
Elliot Daly starts at fullback with Fin Smith replacing George Ford – who misses out entirely – at fly-half. Ben Spencer replaces the injured Alex Mitchell at scrum-half.
The back row still looks light with Ben Earl and Tom Curry joined by Guy Pepper. Henry Pollock moves back to his usual spot on the bench.
Ollie Chessum’s on the wood too, alongside Sam Underhill and Marcus Smith.
England: 15 Elliot Daly; 14 Tom Roebuck, 13 Tommy Freeman, 12 Seb Atkinson, 11 Cadan Murley; 10 Fin Smith, 9 Ben Spencer; 1 Ellis Genge, 2 Jamie George, 3 Joe Heyes, 4 Maro Itoje, 5 Alex Coles, 6 Guy Pepper, 7 Tom Curry, 8 Ben Earl.
Replacements: 16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Bevan Rodd, 18 Trevor Davison, 19 Ollie Chessum, 20 Sam Underhill, 21 Henry Pollock, 22 Jack Van Poortvliet, 23 Marcus Smith
Italy team
Juan Ignacio Brex returns to the midfield to continue his union with Tommaso Menoncello.
Alessandro Garbisi starts at scrum-half to partner his brother, Paolo, in. the half-backs.
Ange Cappuozzo is out of the match-day 23 with Tommaso Allan starting ont he bench and. Lorenzo Pani returning to fullback.
For the fourth game in a row, Italy’s starting pack remains the same.
Italy: 15 Lorenzo Pani; 14 Louis Lynagh, 13 Juan Ignacio Brex, 12 Tommaso Menoncello, 11 Monty Ioane; 10 Paolo Garbisi, 9 Alessandro Garbisi; 1 Danilo Fischetti, 2 Giacomo Nicotera, 3 Simone Ferrari, 4 Niccolo Cannone, 5 Andrea Zambonin, 6 Michele Lamaro, 7 Manuel Zuliani, 8 Lorenzo Cannone.
Replacements: 16 Tommaso Di Bartolomeo, 17 Mirco Spagnolo, 18 Muhamed Hasa, 19 Federico Ruzza, 20 Riccardo Favretto, 21 Alessandro Fusco, 22 Leonardo Marin, 23 Tommaso Allan
Scotland have just put 50 on France!
Unreal. Of course that means nothing for our game here, but it underlines how bonkers this year’s Six Nations has been.
Anything could happen.
Preamble
Daniel Gallan
From October 1991 until kick-off this afternoon, matches between England and Italy have been a forgone conclusion.
The two nations have met 32 times and England have triumphed on every occasion. The average score is around 40 points to 13. There have been drubbings of 67-7 in 1999, 80-23 in 2001 and 57-14 in 2019. Things have been tighter recently, and the last match in Rome ended with a three point margin, but the story has followed a predictable plot for 35 years.
That could change today.
England are on the ropes after heavy losses to Scotland and Ireland. Steve Borthwick has made sweeping changes to his team, more than any other England coach in Six Nations history. His players have looked disjointed, out of sorts and short of confidence.
Italy meanwhile have continued to impress. They fought hard to beat Scotland in a downpour and have been the only side in the first three rounds to provide something resembling a challenge to the French. They have arguably the best centre pair in the game, have astute operators in the halfbacks and now possess a pack that can mix it in heavy traffic.
England should still win. I’d be surprised if they don’t. Then again I wouldn’t be totally shocked if they fall to a third loss on the bounce. Not simply because of their own spluttering form but because their hosts have never been in a better position to finally complete the set in the Six Nations.
That’s a lot of words to admit I don’t know which way this is going. If you’ve got any clue please drop me an email. I’d love some help untangling this conundrum.
Kick-off at 4:40 pm GMT, 5:40 pm in Rome.
Teams and other updates to follow.
