6 NATIONS RUGBY: England v Italy

14.02.2010
England v Italy in Rome (6 Nations)

Referee: Christophe Berdos (France)

Venue: Stadio Flaminio

Preview
Italy is not a daunting prospect for England. What England will want is a polished, strong performance ahead of their clash with Ireland next weekend. And there is the danger. Not much to play for in Rome? Better think again. Italy will be ready to pounce and a sleepy lion.

Italy would have been bitterly disappointed with their effort in the first half against Ireland. They were a much stronger outfit in the second half but were not up to more than a rousing fight back. Italy could be a different team in front of their home crowd. Go back to 2008. What a fright they gave England. Whilst I can't see Italy winning I can see a big fright coming England's way and another headache coming on for Martin Johnson.

Italy will be looking to impress in front of their home crowd. Image thanks to www.federugby.it

Last Five Encounters
07.02.2009 England 36-11 at Twickenham (6 Nations)
10.02.2008 England 23-19 in Rome (6 Nations)
10.02.2007 England 20-7 at Twickenham (6 Nations)
11.02.2006 England 31-16 in Rome (6 Nations)
12.03.2005 England 39-7 at Twickenham (6 Nations)

Italy has never defeated England since they first met in 1991. The 2008 loss above by 4 points is the closest they've got.

GWC Rugby Rankings
World Table-England 8th, Italy 10th
Europe Table-England 2nd, Italy 6th

Prediction: England by 3 points and Italy's best ever performance against them.

Teams

Italy
15 Luke McLean
14 Andrea Masi
13 Gonzalo Canale
12 Gonzalo Garcia
11 Mirco Bergamasco
10 Craig Gower
9 Tito Tebaldi
8 Alessandro Zanni
7 Mauro Bergamasco
6 Joshua Sole
5 Marco Bortolami
4 Quintin Geldenhuys
3 Martin Castrogiovanni
2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, Capt.
1 Salvatore Perugini
Replacements
16 Fabio Ongaro
17 Matias Aguero
18 Valerio Bernabo
19 Paul Derbyshire
20 Pablo Canavosio
21 Riccardo Bocchino
22 Kaine Robertson
Head Coach: Nik Mallett

Milestones
Last week Bocchino made his test debut for Italy off the bench.
Mirco Bergamasco's penaly goal last week against Ireland took him to 96 test points for Italy, only a try away from the 100 test points milestone.

England
15 Delon Armitage
14 Mark Cueto
13 Mathew Tait
12 Riki Flutey
11 Ugo Monye
10 Jonny Wilkinson
9 Daniel Care
8 Nicholas Easter
7 Lewis Moody
6 James Haskell
5 Steven Borthwick, Capt.
4 Simon Shaw
3 Daniel Cole
2 Dylan Hartley
1 Timothy Payne
Replacements
16 Steven Thompson
17 David Wilson
18 Matthew Mullan
19 Louis Deacon
20 Steffon Armitage
21 Paul Hodgson
22 Tobias Flood
Head Coach: Martin Johnson

Milestones
Apology to Nicholas Easter. Last week I gave his age as 34. Not correct. Born 15 August 1978, makes him 31 years old.
Haskells' first try last week was his first for England. He scored another just to further celebrate the occasion.
Danny Cole made his test debut for England last week as a substitute. He makes his first start in the starting XV today.
Wilkinson remains the leading test point scorer of all time. His tally for England is now 1073, with a further 67 for the Lions, giving him a grand total of 1140, a truly remarkable record.

Jonny Wilkinson. The greatest test rugby point scorer of all time. Image thanks to www.rfu.com