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4 hours ago
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Even by the Six Nations’ usual standards this has been a remarkable tournament. And to the list of stunning outcomes can now be added the biggest result in the history of Italian rugby. For the first time in 33 attempts they have beaten England at rugby union and no one could possibly claim the boys in blue did not deserve their long-awaited special day.
Entering the final half hour it had seemed as though England might just leave Rome with their dignity intact. Instead, not for the first time in this championship, they were the architects of their own downfall with the momentum of the game swinging decisively after two visiting forwards, including captain Maro Itoje, were sent to the sin-bin within eight minutes of each other
Italy, 18-10 down at one stage, sensed their chance and struck the decisive blow in the 71st minute when the replacement Leonardo Marin dived over to finish a stunning counterattack try set up by forceful running from Monty Ioane and Tommaso Menoncello, who had earlier scored a fabulous solo try of his own.
Not surprisingly the roar at the final whistle could have been heard in the Alps. Precise translations of the home chants were not immediately available but it was not hard to imagine something along the lines of “Jonny Wilkinson, Martin Johnson, David Beckham, Jamie Oliver; your boys took one hell of a beating …”
Their joy was wholly justified. Not so long ago Italy could not win a game, losing 36 Six Nations games in a row in a seven-year streak that only ended in 2022. Their head coach, Gonzalo Quesada, has done a spectacularly good job since he took over two years ago and here was the definitive proof.
What to say about England? As they head to Paris, via a short training camp in Verona, for next week’s final round there are precious few fig leaves left to clutch. Lose to France and they will have suffered four defeats in the same championship for the first since 1976 and only the third time since it expanded to five teams 116 years ago,
Whatever dynamism and cohesion they possessed during their previous 12-Test winning run under Steve Borthwick has completely evaporated. They did at least score a couple of well-taken first-half tries through Tommy Freeman and Tom Roebuck but, for the third match in succession, proved to be alarmingly brittle when the pressure mounted. Is it their tactics, the effectiveness of the instructions they are receiving or a collective power failure? The answer is probably a combination of all three.
In truth, though, the credit should primarily go to Italy, who finished comfortably the stronger side. Maybe the pre-match home anthem has previously been sung louder and with more intent but, frankly, it was hard to recall one sounding more impassioned. The result from Murrayfield had also clearly encouraged the idea that this might just be their day, particularly when it emerged that Tom Curry had been injured in the warm-up and that Underhill had been drafted into the starting lineup.
From England’s perspective it did not change the most urgent collective priority: to start far better than had been the case against the Scots and the Irish. Once again, however, they could not profit from a couple of promising early forays into the Italian 22, allowing the hosts to regroup and pose some questions at the other end. Fin Smith, who had a distinctly mixed day, was under pressure from early on and England were receiving very little for free.
Italy were also growing in confidence with ball in hand, Ioane making a couple of surging runs down the left. Their territorial gains were eventually rewarded with the first points of the game after 20 minutes when an offside penalty allowed Paolo Garbisi to put his side in front and brought the home crowd further into the game.
It was just as well from England’s perspective, therefore, that they responded swiftly. A scrum penalty put Italy on the defensive and Smith and Alex Coles then deftly worked their Northampton teammate Freeman over on the left edge. There is real talent in English rugby when it is given the licence to flower.
The same, however, is equally true in Italy. The 23-year-old Menoncello would walk into most teams in this championship and his ability to break the line was perfectly illustrated six minutes before the interval. All it took was a nicely timed little pass from his scrum-half Alessandro Garbisi and he was through, leaving the outpaced Elliot Daly trailing in his wake from 45 metres out and swallow-diving over.
It was no more than Italy deserved but England again had an immediate answer. After a midfield turnover and with the hosts stretched defensively Smith’s perfectly weighted cross-kick found the lurking Roebuck and the Sale winger cut purposefully inside the cover. Smith’s conversion gave England a 12-10 interval lead and set up a nervous second 40 minutes.
England’s decision to ask Smith to go for goal rather than kick to the corner early in the second half was a clear sign of their uneasiness and their composure was about to desert them again. First a stooping Underhill was sent to the sin-bin for a shoulder to the head of Danilo Fischetti and Itoje then also departed for cynically knocking the ball out of the hands of Italy’s replacement scrum-half Alessandro Fusco.
Could Italy capitalise? The answer, gloriously, was yes, leaving England’s supposed heavyweights flat on their backs. Since they last lifted the title in 2020, England have won just four of their 14 fixtures on the road, losing all eight combined in Edinburgh, Dublin and France. Over that same period, France and Ireland have won 11 away games apiece and Scotland have won six. Regardless of whether they grab an unlikely win in Paris this Saturday this campaign is destined to be remembered for all the wrong reasons.
