Following England’s narrow 27-24 victory over Italy, here are our five takeaways from the Six Nations clash in Rome on Saturday.
The top line
Italy produced one of their best displays against England as they pushed Steve Borthwick’s men all the way, eventually losing by just three points but claiming a crucial bonus point in a match that would have pleased both head coaches, especially given this was Gonzalo Quesada’s first match in charge of the Azzurri.
His team started hot with tries from Alessandro Garbisi (10′) and Tommaso Allan (25′) against an English defence that really struggled early on to get its shape right, but as the match went on, the communication between the visitors increased hugely as the Felix Jones engineered system really started to suffocate the Italian backs.
For 30 minutes, it looked like Italy might just get away from England, but with towering performances from the England back-row and some pragmatic territorial work from the boots of George Ford and Henry Slade saw Alex Mitchell beat three men in the space of a metre to cross for a vital try just after the break.
Italy will be delighted at the first quarter and the last quarter of their display; their hugely physical centre partnership, Juan Ignacio Brex and Tommaso Menoncello’s directness in attack created a lot of space for those around them and Brex’s sumptuous offload as he beat Ollie Chessum’s tackle saw Garbisi score a brilliantly engineered try down the middle of the pitch.
But with England edging the breakdown battle and collision up front and possibly enjoying an edge in the set-piece, the visitors just about did enough to take the spoils in a match were both teams have a lot of positives to take away.
Roots and Freeman impress
Tommy Freeman is a known quantity in his original form for England but the new improved heavyweight iteration showed huge promise as he mixed size and sleight to make quite an impact on the match. His incursion into the line off a lovely short pass from Freddie Steward saw the Saint change direction and get around two Azzurri defenders to set Elliott Daly scooting over in the left corner.
Freeman looks a different player to the one we saw fall between the two stools of not enough gas and not enough physicality in previous Tests and Borthwick will be delighted at the way he’s responded to his World Cup omission.
On the blindside flank, Ethan Roots may be a completely different style of player to his predecessor, the great Courtney Lawes, but there’s no doubt he brings heavy ball carrying and sumptuous hitting power in tackle to this team. In an era of increasingly bigger back-rows, his 112kgs brought a distinct thump to England’s efforts, notably closing Italy off in the 71st minute under England’s posts when the hosts were threatening to spoilt the debutant’s afternoon. Roots’ appetite for the power work is clear for all to see, and his thundering running with the ball in hand was a feature of England’s game as he made nine carries for 63 metres in an impressive debut that saw him deservedly claim the Player of the Match award.
Caps awarded
On both sides, we saw a number of new faces enter this first year of a new World Cup cycle. Roots was the star man, but Fraser Dingwall – his missed tackle to let in Monty Ioane aside – showed real intellect in his defensive work and rare vision in attack as he distributed well in midfield, but without perhaps offering the physicality of many modern-day 12s.
Chandler Cunningham-South was only on for 18 minutes but looked a born test match athlete, making some important interventions in defence and almost getting away down the left flank showing gas that would befit a test three-quarter.
With Fin Smith and Immanuel Feyi-Waboso also getting their first starts and Beno Obano and Alex Coles resuming their fledgling Test careers, it was a really positive day for England in terms of exploring their depth, and whilst many may relish the attacking prospect that Feyi-Waboso might bring to the Test arena, the young medical student showed his mettle in defence as he made a couple of key interventions as Italy tried to break out of their own half towards the end of the match.
The old guard
For all of the excitement around the new faces we saw in white, there was some very impressive shifts shown by the older guard who’ve been there many times before.
It might surprise many, but England’s top carrier in the match was none other than the Mohican legend himself, Joe Marler, who crashed up 21 carries, mainly as a one-out receiver, as the durable prop once again showed his world-class credentials. And when England needed turnovers, it was vice-captain Maro Itoje who stepped up, whether it be on the floor or in the lineout as the Lions lock put in yet another classy performance.
But the surprise package was Slade, who overcame a couple of defensive blunders early on, missing a couple of tackles and getting too narrow against the Italian width. The Exeter star really added so much intellect to England’s strategy, often acting as a secondary 10 to clear or to pepper the Azzurri backline with some really teasing spiral bombs.
With Ford’s boot a key component of England’s comeback, there was a convincing blend of old skill and new blood in the Borthwick strategy, and whilst the result wasn’t perhaps as convincing as it might have been, there was a lot to like about England’s strategy.
Work-ons
England will want to deliver an 80-minute defensive effort next weekend against Wales, and it’s important that their rush work is coordinated as one line, without players stepping out and doglegging as happened on a couple of occasions. Felix Jones is noted for demanding pace in D, but he also demands detail, and it’s that that England needs to focus on.
There’s also a little bit of a void in terms of the jackalling threat; only Ben Earl and Itoje are noted specialists in this area in the forwards, and it’s crucial that the back-row and others sharpen up their efforts as they will be up against a Welsh trio next weekend that are noted for their skill in the steal.
For Italy, they did a lot of things very well, but their thinking in exit and in territorial pressure really let them down in this match. With England superior at line out and putting serious heat on their midfield with their rush defence, the Azzurri spent far too much time handling in their own half or re-pressuring themselves by giving England line-outs in the Italian half. It’s a learning curve for this team, but with better thinking at half-back, especially at nine, there’s a lot of room for improvement in kicking that might see them take a match like this next time around.
READ MORE: England player ratings: NZ-born newbie fills Courtney Lawes’ boots as Tommy Freeman brings club form into the Six Nations
Sophie Anderson, a UK-based writer, is your guide to the latest trends, viral sensations, and internet phenomena. With a finger on the pulse of digital culture, she explores what’s trending across social media and pop culture, keeping readers in the know about the latest online sensations.
