By Chris Chaplin
March 10 2003

On Saturday I watched England take on The Azzurri and was in part impressed and in part mystified by what I saw. Here are the player ratings: Robbie Morris produced a less than convincing performance in the scrum with the set pieces pivoting as he was pushed backwards by a committed Italian front row. He defended well and put himself about in the loose. However it was not until Mike Worsley came on for his debut at HQ that the scrum settled on that side. 4/10

Steve Thompson was again good in the loose and did well in the scrum but his lineout work was wayward and our possession from the set piece was fractured and looked insecure against the two Italians. 5/10

Graham Rowntree was my pick of the front row. He held firm and gained ground on his side of the set piece, was first class in defence and had much to do around the breakdown where he also performed well. 7/10

Danny Grewcock made the best of some poor service in the lineout and defended endlessly. He was pretty much back to his old self in the loose as well. 7/10

Ben Kay suffered from poor service in the line as did Grewcock and both had to cope with a useful locking performance from the Italians. Good to see him running some good lines and almost took a telling pass - but didn't. 7/10

Richard Hill again looked uncomfortable and we were often beaten to the ball at the breakdown. His defence was magnificent though and he got on with his work in the usual Hilly way. 8/10

Lawrence Dallaglio was not as dominant as in the Welsh game, although he did produce some trademark bursts but the Italians were far better at clearing out the rucks. 7/10

Joe Worsley did nothing wrong, nothing spectacular and together with the rest of the back row defended himself to a standstill during the hour that England were unable to get the ball. 6/10

Matt Dawson made a welcome re-appearance and had a good game. He was fleet of foot and of mind and when ball came onto the England side he made good use of it. During the magical first quarter he kept the backs moving forward at pace and we saw how much we've missed him. 8/10

Jonny Wilkinson started his Captaincy well with some first class distribution and attacking lines but as the game swung toward the visitors he was fully occupied with defence and seemed to retreat into his shell. It was almost as if he couldn't believe how well it was all going and that it would last. He was right. I don't think he'll be too sorry to see Johnno back. 7/10

Mike Tindall returned to the fray and had one of the best games I can recall for England. He was his usual direct self but this time his support play was of the highest order and he offloaded in contact with alacrity which kept the attack moving forward. he was justly rewarded with s try. 8/10

Will Greenwood had a quieter match in attack but was busy in defence. I didn't see him positioning himself as well or running the sublime lines that he did against both the French and the Welsh. As well as Tindall played I wonder if these two are truly compatable in the centre? 7/10

Dan Luger continued much as he has since the start of this year's tournament and wasn't really much of a threat until Ollie Smith straightened the line late in the second half, Luger ran straight and true and really had a shoo in of a score. 6/10

James Simpson -Daniel also received a gift of score and all credit to him for being in the right place at the right time but didn't otherwise shine. I did have some concerns about his tackling as well as he missed the Italian wing on several occasions and this will be a worry to him and Woodward. Against sterner more incisive opposition there would have been problems. 6/10

Josh Lewsey showed what a real full back does. He did nothing wrong all afternoon made and scored a couple of cracking tries, caused all sorts of trouble coming into the line and his defence was flawless. In my preview I asked why he'd been selected ahead of Stimpson - now I know. Humble pie and custard please!. 9/10

and Finally a word about Ollie Smith who made a stunning debut and surely cannot be ignored as a strong contender as RWC partner for Greenwood.

Team performance was weird. World Class for 20 minutes or so ordinary in the extreme for and hour and good for the rest. They'll need to be far, far better than this to beat Ireland and the pack needs Johnno and Backy to sharpen up the play around the ruck and maul where the Italians had the best of things. With this drop off in intensity for the majority of the match the top sides would have made them suffer. Imagine the French, Aussies, All Blacks or even the Springboks effectively having virtually sole possession of the ball for the best part of an hour. 6/10