6N Rugby - Italy v England

First topic message reminder :

England team to face Italy - Sunday

1 Mako Vunipola (Saracens, 28 caps)
2 Dylan Hartley (captain, Northampton Saints, 67 caps)
3 Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers, 57 caps)
4 Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints, 43 caps)
5 George Kruis (Saracens, 11 caps)
6 Chris Robshaw (Harlequins, 44 caps)
7 James Haskell (Wasps, 63 caps)
8 Billy Vunipola (vice captain, Saracens, 22 caps)
9 Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers, 53 caps)
10 George Ford (Bath Rugby, 18 caps)
11 Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs, 11 caps)
12 Owen Farrell (vice captain, Saracens, 36 caps)
13 Jonathan Joseph (Bath Rugby, 17 caps)
14 Anthony Watson (Bath Rugby, 16 caps)
15 Mike Brown (vice captain, Harlequins, 44 caps)

Replacements
16 Jamie George (Saracens, 4 caps)
17 Joe Marler (Harlequins, 38 caps)
18 Paul Hill (Northampton Saints, uncapped)
19 Joe Launchbury (Wasps, 29 caps)
20 Maro Itoje (Saracens, uncapped)
21 Jack Clifford (Harlequins, 1 cap)
22 Danny Care (Harlequins, 54 caps)
23 Alex Goode (Saracens, 19 caps)

that was forward surely

GeordieFalcon wrote:What did Hartley do wrong there????

good question?

A few daft pens aside, Itoje has been impressive.

Launchbury made a linebreak. Now we'll be hearing how he's the best lock in the world again.

For a second, I thought Paul Hill was coming on for Mike Brown.

mikey_dragon wrote:Launchbury made a linebreak. Now we'll be hearing how he's the best lock in the world again.

Make a change from AJ Who

mikey_dragon wrote:Launchbury made a linebreak. Now we'll be hearing how he's the best lock in the world again.

Make a change from AJ Who

Rory_Gallagher wrote:England are winning convincely now because Maro Itoje is on the pitch.

I agree, also Care has helped speed it up.

That was a work of art

I know the plan was for England to tire Italy before blowing them away but I thought our "tire them out" part would look more efficient.

Great play from Jamie George

Itoje at the breakdown has been a breath of fresh air

Rory_Gallagher wrote:England are winning convincely now because Maro Itoje is on the pitch.

He looks very good, as do Clifford and George...

GeordieFalcon wrote:Great play from Jamie George

Captains place is under pressure from what I've seen.

Italy being blown away.

Starting to warm to Farrell at 12

Kruis has put a good shift in again mind

The youngsters have been absolutely fantastic.

Much better 2nd half performance. Clifford, Itoje and Hill have looked liked naturals.

Care, Launchbury and George have really impressed from the bench.

Many positives in the 2nd half. Cole, Kruis and JJ the picks.

Young MOTM???

Italy have made too many errors and England have lived off of that. England started poorly but have grown since the game has gone on and rarely put a foot wrong. A good win to take forward.

Ben Youngs man of the match?

WELL-PAST-IT wrote:that was forward surely

Yep no idea what Jackson was looking at - clearly fumbled forwards by the Italian 14 ...

Didn't expect that result at half time, Maybe Eddie does know his stuff!

Rugby Fan wrote:Ben Youngs man of the match?

That has to be an error, or a very bad joke. JJ all the way

Well played England. Loads and loads to work on and will be many bumps in the road, but I think as things are Jones is the right man for now and the forseeable future.

TightHEAD wrote:Didn't expect that result at half time, Maybe Eddie does know his stuff!

I said exactly what would happen through the week...and even the pack lineup at the end.....

JJ scores a 3, and the player that slowed England down for 45 minutes gets MotM. WTF

Baffling MOTM decision!!!

Congrats to England, bench made a big impact, lived off Italian mistakes, but a result to build on even if performance wasn't what they hoped.

Going to be tough to beat this year!

Well done England, very impressive second half.

A very good win for England. Josph scoring a hatrick Owen Farrell scoring under the post. great play by England in the second half.

Replacements coming on making a big impact on the game.

England really had to up there game in the second half and they did just that. Italy starting to tire towards the last 20 minutes or so probably the difference in the teams. England did not look tired at all.

Well played England a well deserved win today.

Good effort from England, their building nicely, that last game against them is looking like a cracker

I'm watching the Bein rugby broadcast, which has Denis Hickie and Steve Thompson as half-time commentators. When did Hickie start looking like childrens TV character Bod?

Motm picked after 65 mins!!!!!

I guess it's hard work to type a name for an on screen graphic.

WELL-PAST-IT wrote:JJ scores a 3, and the player that slowed England down for 45 minutes gets MotM. WTF

Crazy decision for MotM, but JJ should have been as far away from MotM as Youngs should have been. As to the second part of your comment - complete trolling.

Overall a performance from England that was not really a step up from last week. The lineout was a shambles - mainly due to the guy calling, but Hartley's throwing was a touch wonky too. Even when we won the ball, we seemed to have no idea how to then keep from coughing up a penalty for obstruction.

The one area that was improved was that 10/12 axis I thought. Whilst Ford still had some shaky moments he was much better than last week and Farrell managed a passable impression of a centre.

Overall a decent performance - but still no more than 6/10.

Not a bad performance, no idea what TightHead is on about with regards to Haskell who has been very good both games and fail to see what Cole did wrong either.

Itoje, Clifford and George all looked impressive from the bench as I think everyone expected them to, dare I say it I think Robshaw's days are numbered, not the kind of player you want on the bench either.

Yuch... Woodward is sooo arrogant!
Nww Zealand and South Africa are the REAL opponents, anyone tell this idiot that England haven't won a slam since 2003?

Haskell was extremely physical in the first half, him and Kruis really put themselves about.

Cole was excellent throughout, the scrum was a major weapon, best game in a long time.

Ford needs dropping I'm afraid, he's just too out of from.

Great impact from the bench.

I thought JJ had a poor first half, but like the rest of the team he improved in the second half. He doesn't look great on the back foot. Farrell was the only one who was consistent.

dare I say it I think Robshaw's days are numbered, not the kind of player you want on the bench either.

Robshaw does not seem to have the fire in him like he did before the RWC.

But is that enough of an excuse to drop him from the match day 23? I am not so sure.

Kruis MOTM for me. Care, Itoje, Clifford, George all looked good.

Only people to really let themselves down today were Ford and Youngs. They were both flapping and making each other's mistakes even worse. Hopefully just a bad day at the office.

Haskell was good, but I turned the air blue when he hit the player in the air. He is so frustrating!

England were playing a team with a completely disorganized defense and were very average for 40 minutes. Italy are the only side in the 6 Nations who will allow them in that way but no doubt the usual grandiosity will occur.

Rugby Fan wrote:I'm watching the Bein rugby broadcast, which has Denis Hickie and Steve Thompson as half-time commentators. When did Hickie start looking like childrens TV character Bod?

I have the BeIN broadcast as well. I was wondering when Dennis Hickie started to look like an old man. Didn't he retire less than 10 years ago? Now he looks like a grandfather.

Why is it Care always seems better as a sub than a starter for England?

mid_gen wrote:Kruis MOTM for me. Care, Itoje, Clifford, George all looked good.

Only people to really let themselves down today were Ford and Youngs. They were both flapping and making each other's mistakes even worse. Hopefully just a bad day at the office.

I'd go with that. Kruis seems to be underrated as everyone is busy talking up Launchbury for some reason. Kruis was very good last week and today.

Thought England were average, at best, for most of the game, until the Italians tired. The scoreline certainly flatters the away side.

Ordinarily, I'd say England will need to improve for the Ireland game - but, in truth, Ireland have been equally poor, bar a 20 minute spell against Wales.

Gwlad wrote:England were playing a team with a completely disorganized defense and were very average for 40 minutes. Italy are the only side in the 6 Nations who will allow them in that way but no doubt the usual grandiosity will occur.

Gwalad.

Cannot give praise where praise is due can you? England was not allowed to play in the first half due to Italy putting England under pressure, in the line out at the break down.

At half time it was looking a very tight game, a game that if Italy could of kept up putting England u7nder prssure like they did in the first half Italy may well have won.

Any way have you done sulking now after Wales got a draw against Ireland.

No Grand Slam for Wales eh.

Gwlad wrote:England were playing a team with a completely disorganized defense and were very average for 40 minutes. Italy are the only side in the 6 Nations who will allow them in that way but no doubt the usual grandiosity will occur.

You can only beat what is put in front of you, and England did. Comfortably. Let's not forget that Italy could and should have beaten France last week. They were certainly more inspired than Ireland were this week against Le Bleu. Should we feel bad about this? Even in the uncomfortable first half. England were never really in danger.

The point about players being better off the bench is interesting.

So far in their England careers i would definitely put M.Vunipola, Lawes and Care into that bracket!

i don't think Lawes has the grunt to be truly effective against teams from that start and think all 3 are much better in the broken field that tired legs often offers.