There are certain phrases in sport, not just rugby, that hold hidden meanings. I say ‘hidden’ but everyone knows what they are. Think of “We’ll take the positives and move on”, which means “We were completely useless and I’ve got no idea how we’ll sort this out for next week”. Or, as in England’s case this last weekend, “We’re not thinking about the potential Grand Slam game in Cardiff, we’re totally focussed on beating Italy this Sunday”, which is roughly translated as “I wonder if the Millennium Stadium will have its roof closed next week...huh? We’re playing Italy today? Nobody told me about this!”
Italy are no mugs.
They proved that when they beat France at home with a level of
performance that would test any international side, and they nearly turned over
Australia last autumn. But did anyone
really expect the Azzurri to mount a serious challenge? They had, after all, been pretty poor in the
following games against the Scots and the Welsh, and England had made mincemeat
of Scotland before turning in solid wins against Ireland and the French. This was surely just a dress rehearsal for
the ‘big one’ in Cardiff on Saturday, wasn’t it? Supporters are allowed to have these secret
thoughts floating around their beer flooded heads, but as a professional player
you have to make sure these little daydreams are squished quickly, or you may
be in for a pasting – especially if you have a fired up Italian side with a
point to prove coming to town.
The opening 5 minutes though, did nothing to suggest that
England weren’t really at the races. A
decent spell of possession was finished off with Dan Cole and his chums dismantling
the Italian scrum to give Toby Flood an early chance at 3 points, which he duly
took. England then nearly grabbed a try
after Italian winger Giovanbattista Venditti took approximately 4 minutes to
size up a clearance kick, which allowed Mike Brown to charge down and chase,
but the dead ball line crept up just a fraction too soon for the Harlequins
man. Flood and Luciano Orquera then
traded penalties before Sergio Parisse, returning from being banned for using
naughty words in front of a referee, got the Twickenham crowd on its feet with
a delightful inside pass which set Alessandro Zanni clear, but he was well
hunted down 10 metres out by Tom Wood.
The referee, George Clancy, adjudged Zanni’s offload to Parisse to have
gone forward, somewhat harshly, and the chance was lost.
Flood was at least playing flat, but there was little
penetration in the English backs – not even from Manu Tuilagi, who was being
man-marked by both Italian centres at all times. Eventually England did come close, with a
lovely half-break from Flood being followed by a delightful offload from
Vunipola, which Ashton gathered to hurtle towards the line, only to be hauled
down by a magnificent last ditch challenge from Joshua Furno. The ball was recycled and England had a four
man overlap on the left, only for Alex Goode to butcher it by passing into
traffic.
Despite Eduardo Gori going being sent to the sinbin for
pulling a man back off the ball and gifting Flood another 3 points, the hosts
were still failing to make their dominance count with a series of basic
handling errors out wide. England’s pack
was at least still enjoying the scrum battle though, and another penalty gave Flood the chance to open up a 12 – 3 lead
at half time. The England team talk needed
to be calm and reiterate the need to be precise, but whether it was or not was
another matter. England came out the
other side of the break with another penalty, but seemed rattled that they
weren’t able to put the Italians away like they were supposed to. It was almost
as if their minds were elsewhere...
The Italian confidence grew as the English pack grew more and more frustrated, conceding a surprising scrum penalty as Vunipola folded for Orquera to knock over and then, even worse, conceding a try. Danny Care selected an interesting choice of box kick which went backwards into his own 22 (either that or he sliced it horrendously) which Zanni magnificently caught, before the ball was recycled to Orquera. The Zebre fly half dropped a delightful kick over the England defence for Luke McLean to gather and, although the conversion was missed, the visitors were right back in the game. Italy were in the ascendancy and on course for a shock upset, but the introduction of Ben Youngs and Courtney Lawes gave some stability to the home side, and a further Toby Flood penalty eased the nerves.
Italy pressed for an equaliser late on but Lawes stole a
crucial lineout to give the victory for England. After the final whistle, captain Chris
Robshaw could only say “Job Done”, which in this case probably again means something a bit different - “Phew”.
England Player
Ratings
Goode – 5 – Started brightly with some nice footwork and some good takes but then his performance faded alarmingly, butchering at least one try scoring chance by ignoring an overlap
Ashton – 6 – You could tell he was hungry for this one and hunted for work, but it’s just not falling for him at the moment. Was a fingertip away from scoring but where was he for McLean’s try?
Tuilagi – 6 – Did nothing wrong but had no space to demonstrate his considerable power and was well shut down by the Azzurri defence. A couple of notable surges, however.
Barritt – 5 – A disappointing day for the Saracens man as he was another guilty of ignoring better options outside him by taking contact. Needs to broaden his game.
Brown – 7 – Didn’t make any mistakes and once again was the backline’s chief yard-maker. All this from a bloke still playing out of position.
Flood – 6 – Couldn’t find the breakthrough with the ball in hand that all England’s possession and territory merited. A perfect performance with the boot of the tee but needs more accuracy from hand.
Care – 4 – Blew his chance. He looked lively early on with a decent snipe but summed up his afternoon by recklessly chucking the offload to a nearby Italian. His scuffed kick led to McLean’s try.
M. Vunipola – 7 – Was a powerful presence on the carry throughout and had the upper hand in the scrum for the first half before he began to tire. Needs to work on his stamina perhaps?
T. Youngs – 7 – Accurate with the lineout and aggressive on the carry and in defence again, justified his inclusion ahead of Dylan Hartley.
Cole – 8 – I would still like to see him carry more but he won the battle on his side of the scrum and was phenomenal in the loose once again, earning 3 turnovers (2 steals, 1 penalty).
Launchbury – 7 – A strong defensive effort, making an impressive 14 tackles, and got a couple of decent carries in as well.
Parling – 6 – Not quite as prominent as in recent weeks but still gave a solid all round contribution and is always eager to take the ball into the heart of the opposition defence.
Haskell – 7 – Probably England’s best backrower in a disappointing afternoon, he at least showed some dynamism on the carry and utilised his power to good effect.
Robshaw – 6 – His least prominent game in an England shirt. He was still everywhere but not quite as hungry in the rucks or as aggressive on the carry as in recent times – and he made a mistake (dropped catch) for once too. Will need to improve against Warburton.
Wood – 6 – After being so impressive so far this tournament it was disappointing to see Wood play a fairly anonymous role. Was reasonable but he needs to focus on his strengths as an 8 (i.e. mobility) rather than try to take on Ben Morgan’s role of trucking it up – he doesn’t have the size.
Subs Used
Hartley – Not enough time to make an impact
Marler – 5 – Helped the scrum recover but couldn’t regain the early-match dominance England enjoyed. Conceded a couple of silly penalties as well.
Wilson – Not enough time to make an impact.
Lawes – 6 – Showed up better this week with a couple of high-energy carries but couldn’t find a clear opening.
Croft – 6 – Just great to see him on the park again. Gave a solid shift with a couple of decent carries and some good tackles, but may have ignored an overlap outside him later on.
B Youngs – 6 – Looked far more solid than Care, certainly from his box kicks, and played a smart tactical game when the Italian pack were starting to get on top.
Twelvetrees – Not enough time to make an impact.
Masi – 8 – He’s been magnificent all tournament. A smart, aggressive runner who is always hungry for work, he gave another assured display at Twickenham.
Venditti – 6 – Nearly gave away a score through a charge down but looked threatening when he did get the ball, as always, which wasn’t enough, as always
Canale – 6 – The veteran did exactly what was expected of him and spent the afternoon arrowing himself at Tuilagi’s shins. Did the job – the huge centre couldn’t get past him. Invisible in attack though.
Garcia – 7 – Like his partner, did not let Tuilagi out of his sight. A fine defensive display was complimented by some nice touches with the ball in hand too.
McLean – 8 – Fantastically well taken try and gave an assured display of tactical kicking as well to give the Italians a foothold in the game.
Orquera – 7 – You think he’s having a quiet day at the office and then BAM! A beautifully weighted kick sets up a try. Didn’t look out of place on the big stage.
Gori – 4 – On a difficult afternoon for scrum halves, Gori gave some decent service but ruined any positives through some inaccurate and wasteful kicking and a mindless sinbinning for pulling back on Toby Flood’s shirt.
De Marchi – 4 – Schooled at scrum time and couldn’t impose himself elsewhere in the game. Gave away far too many penalties.
Ghiraldini – 7 – I’m a big fan of the hooker and he put in another high energy performance full of aggression and intensity. Throwing in was pretty solid too.
Castrogiovanni – 5 – Had his own problems in the scrum but got about the park and made plenty of tackles before going off injured, where he looked utterly forlorn.
Geldenhuys – 6 – Decent showing from the lock, but couldn’t impose himself on the English lineout despite defending well and carrying with aggression.
Furno – 8 – He gains 2 points for a sensational one handed scrag on Ashton to prevent a certain try. Superb athleticism from the big man, and was a titan in defence all day.
Zanni – 7 – An industrious game that was effective without being spectacular. Got through a lot of dirty work and was a key component of the comeback the Italians staged late on.
Barbieri – 6 – Saw nothing of him with the ball in hand but busied himself at the breakdown to slow down the English ball. Industrious.
Parisse – 9 – Yet another superb performance from the Captain. It was evident last week how much they missed him, but it was even more obvious how markedly improved the Italians are when he’s on the field. Tackled himself to a standstill, carried with relish and turned over plenty of promising English ball. And he didn’t abuse the ref. Man of the match.
Subs
Giazzon – 4 – Not the impact he would have hoped for. Lost a couple of key lineouts at a critical
stage of the match.
Lo Cicero – Not enough time to make an impact.Cittadini – 6 – Bit of a mixed bag with the scrum but the problems weren’t really on his side. Did his best to make an impression in Castrogiovanni’s absence.
Pavanello – 5 – Helped an Italian pack claw their way back into the game but was guilty of a couple of handling errors too.
Minto – 6 – A strong presence with the ball in hand who played a key part in the latter pressure the Azzurri exerted
Favaro – 6 – None of his trademark big hits were on show but he brought energy to the side later on
Botes – 6 – An improvement from Gori, but that wasn’t saying much. Helped get Italy playing in the right areas.
Benvenuti – Not enough time to make an impact.
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