Six Nations: England V Italy Preview

An unchanged England side will face struggling Italy this Saturday at Twickenham, with English grand slam dreams unexpectedly ignited after victory in Cardiff. It may be Valentine's Day, but there will be no love lost between the sides when they take to the turf, even if one of them wears a red rose above their hearts.

England are the obvious favourites going into this game – even the most passionate and optimistic of Italian fans would admit that – but there is no guarantee that the scoreline will be one-sided. Although the last meeting between these teams ended 11-52 to England, Italy’s last visit to Twickenham was a tight affair, with only seven points between the sides. In the five meetings before that, three were won by five points or less. England should take heed from history – the Azzurri are no pushovers, and only a late flourish from Ireland last week made the scoreline more flattering than perhaps it should have been.

Mike Brown bagged two tries the last time he faced Italy

Having said that, England will be all too aware that points difference could be the deciding factor when they face off against Ireland in Dublin at the end of the tournament, and the men in white will be looking to pile on the points. However, they must not go into the game expecting to score tries from the first minute – Italy are a better side than that. England should aim to strangle the life out of the Italians before looking to ship the ball wide. By relying on another strong forward performance, dominating the set piece and building a lead through penalties, England will put pressure on Italy and force them to start chasing the game. This is when mistakes start to be made, mismatches occur, and the likes of Jonathan Joseph, Jonny May, and Anthony Watson can snap up tries.

As always, Sergio Parisee will be at the heart of this Italian side. The Italian captain has more caps than England’s entire backrow, whilst recalled flanker Mauro Bergamasco has the same amount (100). If the trio of Chris Robshaw, James Haskell, and Billy Vunipola can gain the upper hand over their Italian counterparts, and keep Captain Fantastic quiet, England will have an easier time of it.

James Haskell gave a massive performance last week

There is experience in the Italian backline as well, albeit out of position – fullback Andrea Masi moves into the centres for the injured Michele Campagnaro. This is a somewhat strange choice considering the danger posed by the 10 – 12 combination of Allan and Haimona in the final minutes against Ireland. Having measured up so well against the experienced duo of Jamie Roberts and Jonathan Davies in Cardiff, Luther Burrell and Jonathan Joseph should be full of confidence going into this encounter.

Whilst there have been changes aplenty amongst the Azzurri, it seems like the first time in living memory that Stuart Lancaster has selected the same 23 two weeks in a row. This can only be a good decision following the performance against Wales. If the likes of James Haskell, Jonathan Joseph, and Dave Attwood continue to deliver performances on a level with last week, the absences of sure starters Manu Tuilagi, Courtney Lawes, and Tom Wood will be barely noticeable. It’s a selection headache for Stuart Lancaster, but a delight for England fans who, only a few weeks ago, were so worried about the impact that injuries were having with a World Cup only months away. Hopefully we will get a chance to see what Danny Cipriani and Tom Croft can contribute this week, after they went unused against Wales.

Prediction: The question is not so much who will win, but by how much. Expect England to start slow, accumulating points through the boot of George Ford, before opening up in the second half. Sadly, it’s set to be heartbreak once again for Italy this Valentine’s Day. England by 20.

Match Information:

England: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Anthony Watson, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Luther Burrell, 11 Jonny May, 10 George Ford, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Chris Robshaw (c), 6 James Haskell, 5 George Kruis, 4 Dave Attwood, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley, 1 Joe Marler.

Replacements: 16 Tom Youngs, 17 Mako Vunipola, 18 Kieran Brookes, 19 Nick Easter, 20 Tom Croft, 21 Richard Wigglesworth, 22 Danny Cipriani, 23 Billy Twelvetrees.

Italy: 15 Luke McLean, 14 Leonardo Sarto, 13 Luca Morisi, 12 Andrea Masi, 11 Giovambattista Venditti, 10 Kelly Haimona, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Sergio Parisse, 7 Francesco Minto, 6 Mauro Bergamasco, 5 Marco Bortolami, 4 George Fabio Biagi, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Alberto De Marchi.

Replacements: 16 Andrea Manici, 17 Matias Aguero, 18 Dario Chistolini, 19 Joshua Furno, 20 Samuela Vunisa, 21 Guglielmo Palazzani, 22 Tommaso Allan, 23 Giulio Bisegni.

Date: Saturday, February 14

Kickoff: 14:30 GMT

Venue: Twickenham

Referee: Johnny Lacey (Ireland)

Assistant Referees: Pascal Gauzère (France), Mike Fraser (New Zealand)

TMO: George Ayoub (Australia)

SIX NATIONS: ENGLAND V WALES MATCH PREVIEW

   Nearly a year on from what was a thoroughly one sided affair in Cardiff, rugby union's biggest European rivalry is set to write its latest chapter. Since their first fixture in 1881, right up to last year, when a mercurial Wales racked up a 30-3 victory against a rudderless England, these two sides have gone into battle 124 times. Twelve of these historic contests being drawn, means that both teams now sit on 56 wins each. Where will the balance of power tip after Sunday’s game?

    Looking ahead and being just one year away from the start of the world cup, a cup where these two share a pool in the group stages, you can't help but put a great deal of importance on this result. A win for Wales and they'll have their fourth consecutive win over the men in white, a huge psychological advantage if ever there was one.  A win for the English, however, a team currently under strength, who many would say are still on an upwards trajectory yet to reach their peak, would deal a serious blow to the mindset of their foes across the Severn Bridge. The Welsh do not take kindly to defeat by any English team and still less to an England squad which has yet to reach its potential.

      

      Using the previous three rounds as a gauge to predict a victory for this Sunday’s skirmish is a tough ask for anyone. In round one, England started their championship poorly and were just beaten in the dying moments, as France's rising star Gaël Fickou, crossed over the white line to score and in turn win the game for les Bleus. Round three then saw a resurgent Wales absolutely steamroll the French in what was easily their most impressive win thus far in this year's tournament. A win, incidentally, which came straight after a complete drubbing at the hands of the Irish. Ireland’s game plan totally shut down the men in red who suffered a comprehensive work over by their opponents in green. One round later, this same Irish team travelled to Twickenham only to come up short of victory, thanks to a try from England’s Danny Care.

Who will history favour? Image: RFU

     One area that does separate the two teams, however, is the number of personnel each currently has inhabiting the medics table. Whereas Wales have a near fully fit squad with the return of Alun Wyn Jones in the pack and Jonathan Davies in the backline, an impressive 12 lions in the starting 15, England are without 4 lions due to injury problems. Add to this a lack of game time for the incoming replacements and one cannot help but wonder if these problems could perhaps swings the result in favour of the Welsh.

  Arguably, the biggest worry for the hosts is the loss of one man - the one man wrecking ball that is Billy Vunipola. An ankle injury sustained against Ireland will keep him out of Sunday’s crucial game. Robbed of a showdown against his cousin and Wales's own Taulupe Faletau, the young number 8 has been England's top ball carrier so far in this tournament and has provided them with their main source of go forward ball. Ben Morgan, however, is as good a like for like replacement as Stuart Lancaster can hope for and the Yorkshire man will be hoping the Gloucester back rower is back to his best come kick off.

     

     Last year's 30-3 result in Cardiff possibly lost Chris Robshaw his Lion's jersey and in turn cemented Sam Warburton's selection. The tussle between these two captains is without doubt, the pick of the ‘one on one’ battles in the forward pack and depending on which one gains the ascendancy at the break down, may well dictate which way the final score could swing. However, the match up every spectator will want to witness will be the fight between the two fullbacks Leigh Halfpenny and Mike Brown. Halfpenny, last year's player of the tournament and this year's current favourite for that accolade, is certain to create some fireworks, with scything runs on the counter attack. Both players are more than capable of using their superb attacking skills if either side should slip up and deliver a loose kick putting these two into space.

  

Prediction:   

  This fixture presents a rivalry that has delivered drama almost every time these two have met. Sunday’s battle looks certain to continue the trend. Take your eyes away from the game for a second at your own peril! These two teams will be fighting for all they are worth to make it 57 wins over their opponents 56. Many may look to a Welsh victory, especially after their routing of France in the previous week, whilst England managed only a narrow defeat of Ireland. But, adding a wary insight into those results, let’s not forgot how dire Philippe Saint-André's men really were. Bear in mind also, how strong Joe Schmidt's charges look currently. The championship is still very much Ireland's to lose. England by 4.

SQUADS

England: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Jack Nowell, 13 Luther Burrell, 12 Billy Twelvetrees, 11 Jonny May, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Danny Care, 8 Ben Morgan, 7 Chris Robshaw (c), 6 Tom Wood, 5 Courtney Lawes, 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 David Wilson, 2 Dylan Hartley, 1 Joe Marler.

Replacements: 16 Tom Youngs, 17 Mako Vunipola, 18 Henry Thomas, 19 David Attwood, 20 Tom Johnson, 21 Lee Dickson, 22 George Ford, 23 Alex Goode

Wales: 15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Jon Davies, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 George North, 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Rhys Webb, 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Sam Warburton (c), 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 Jake Ball, 4 Alun Wyn Jones, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Gethin Jenkins

Replacements: 16 Ken Owens, 17 Paul James, 18 Rhodri Jones, 19 Andrew Coombs, 20 Justin Tipuric, 21 Mike Phillips, 22 Dan Biggar, 23 Liam Williams

Date: Sunday 9th March

Venue: Twickenham

Kick-off: 15:00 (GMT)

Referee: Romain Poite (Fra)

Assistant referees: Steve Walsh (Aus), Lourens van der Merwe (RSA)

TMO: Simon McDowell (Ire)

Article By Alex Dodd