Italy vs. England

14/02/2010

RBS Six Nations Championship - Match Preview

England manager Martin Johnson will hand Leicester prop Dan Cole his first international start at the Stadio Flaminio on Sunday.

Cole, 22, impressed in a 20-minute appearance against Wales during which England’s pack achieved a hitherto absent forward momentum in the set-scrums. David Wilson makes way, having failed to shrug off a neck problem incurred in the same match.

England’s coaches have been quick to buck up their newest charge in the face of the challenge presented by Italy’s fearsome front-row. Forwards coach John Wells described him as yet another hard-nosed member of the Tigers’ forward fraternity, and Graham Rowntree praised his toughness ahead of the encounter.

Italy’s scrummage remains the pre-eminent feature of their game, although its strength is often overstated to mask the deficiencies of the Azurri in other areas of the field. After France’s front row’s brutal dismantling of their Scottish counterparts on Sunday, Cole should be mightily relieved that his debut was not postponed for a few weeks.

England did not so much turn a corner at Twickenham as they made a decent fist of cutting it off completely by bashing down the wall, or hoofing the ball clean over it.

Securing an expected win may have afforded the management a little breathing space but it will be soon constricted again should England splutter their way past the Italians.

The expectations game against Italy has always been a tricky one to call. Long gone are the days of 50-point thrashings but in recent years English observers have been repeatedly let down by an inability to put away the weakest side in the Six Nations.

Italy possess a strong, rugged pack but remain starved for invention and pace, for tries; a seven-point cushion is more than enough to take the lock off the box.

Wales showed greater precision and assurance than England last weekend. In fact, for a demonstration of intelligent angles of running, accomplished handling and above all ambition, one would better off watching England’s women than their more illustrious male counterparts.

Johnson hit back at criticism of his side’s lack of creativity in the autumn with a repeated retrospective to last year’s Six Nations, in which England were the top try-scorers.

However, it is worth pointing out that Jonny Wilkinson was not president over proceedings in that tournament. The Toulon outside-half’s reputation will not be enhanced by falling foul of the dynamic benchmark set by no other than Andy Goode.

Wilkinson must stand flatter, threaten the gain-line himself, and extricate the lumbering forwards from his channel if England are to mollify their persistent critics against a team that are more easily circumnavigated than bulldozed.

England have delayed naming their replacements until Friday with a number of the squad fighting injuries and illness, including Captain Steve Borthwick.

Italy: Luke McLean, Andrea Masi, Gonzalo Canale, Gonzalo Garcia, Mirco Bergamasco, Craig Gower, Tito Tebaldi; Alessandro Zanni, Mauro Bergamasco, Josh Sole, Marco Bortolami, Quintin Geldenhuys, Martin Castrogiovanni, Leonardo Ghiraldini (capt) Salvatore Perugini. 

Replacements: Fabio Ongaro, Matias Aguero, Valerio Bernabo, Paul Derbyshire, Pablo Canavosio, Riccardo Bocchino, Kaine Robertson.

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