England vs Italy - 10/03/2013

[Getofmeland]

Twickenham, England
15:00, 10/03/13​

​

 

[Ospreylian]

At the moment I can't see England winning this one by less than 20+ points, in which case the trophy is in the bag for them. Too much of an up-hill struggle for Wales and definitely Scotland.

 

[ratsapprentice]

I think if the weather is good this will be a relatively high scoring match, with quite a few tries in both halves.
I'm guessing it's gonna be in the region of 60 points total.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

I have no idea how this will go - could be a walkover, could be very tight.
I never like playing Italy anyway, because I like to see them do well, so don't like cheering against them :lol:
They've already got a win under their belts though so its not too bad this year

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[Big Ewis]

At the moment I can't see England winning this one by less than 20+ points, in which case the trophy is in the bag for them.

It's all there. An upset is literally impossible, like, can-not-happen, simply. Especially with Parisse out.
* Italy has struggled all tournament long with their supposed dominant scrum, they will obviously struggle here. England will cash in the points nice and gradually.
* Italy has sucked monumental elephant c0ck this tournament on the road (well, just that one loss in Scotland...but it was BAD), and has been extremely poor against Wales (which itself wasn't exactly impressive either), a lot of holes appeared in their defense that game that shouldn't have.
* this is Twickenham, England will always play with great intensity there and this close to the end, though they already are the champs, they'll want to be the champs convincingly. They'll play 80min of home-court intimidation rugby.

Blowout. 20+

 

[Joseph14]

I know there is a call for experimentation from England in this one and I'm not against that at all but firstly lets focus on winning this one and hopefully winning well and being ruthless.

 

[Ospreylian]

I know there is a call for experimentation from England in this one and I'm not against that at all but firstly lets focus on winning this one and hopefully winning well and being ruthless.

Yeah I don't think experimenting a lot would be showing Italy much respect to be honest. And I know, from a Welsh perspective, whenever the Welsh coaches have tinkered with a lot of positions at once for Italy they always come unstuck. So if I were an England supporter I wouldn't want to see many changes. I'd get rid of Brown (or move him to fullback) and Ashton. Both have been pretty dreadful in defence recently. I'd much prefer Wade on the wing, I really rate that guy. And I haven't been impressed at all with Goode, very average in my opinion. Probably the second worst fullback in the tournament, only beaten by Huget, whose positioning and defence work has been astonishingly awful throughout the competition.

And as much as Barritt may be a great defensive centre blah blah blah, he's not a natural attacking inside centre. Give Twelvetrees the chance, let him prove he can defend as well as attack. A centre with the natural abilities of someone like Twelvetrees isn't going to struggle to learn how to defend to the best of his abilities. So rather than concentrating on Barritt, the coaches need to be developing Twelvetrees in all aspects of his game. Tuilagi works brilliantly off him.

 

[falcons1988]

I think, Lancaster will certainly have an eye on Cardiff game and give those who are normally benched a start; therefore not risking his major players. I am certain Farrell won't play, Freddie Burns will come on in the 2nd Half, Flood will start.

Without disrespecting Italy he will keep the intensity and the same 22, hopefully putting the points on Italy to put the Championship completely out of reach of Wales and Scotland.

 

[slowprop]

I think, Lancaster will certainly have an eye on Cardiff game and give those who are normally benched a start; therefore not risking his major players. I am certain Farrell won't play, Freddie Burns will come on in the 2nd Half, Flood will start.

Without disrespecting Italy he will keep the intensity and the same 22, hopefully putting the points on Italy to put the Championship completely out of reach of Wales and Scotland.

He'll be going for continuity and trying to build momentum for the Wales game. I agree he won't want to risk Farrell and Flood will start. Haskell in for Lawes as that experiment didn't work beyond that I can't see any changes.

 

[Joseph14]

I think Mako deserves a start. Haskell back in and would love to see Wade brought in but not holding my breath.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

I wouldn't be completely surprised to see Lawes at 4 and Launchbury on the bench.
Don't think it'll happen, but it could...

 

[falcons1988]

He'll be going for continuity and trying to build momentum for the Wales game. I agree he won't want to risk Farrell and Flood will start. Haskell in for Lawes as that experiment didn't work beyond that I can't see any changes.

Hence the keeping the same 22, perhaps will be the 'continuity'. Though I do wonder why Courtney Lawes is playing instead of Tom Croft.

 

[B10]

England training squad

Chris Ashton (Saracens)
Brad Barritt (Saracens)
Mouritz Botha (Saracens)
Mike Brown (Harlequins)
Freddie Burns (Gloucester Rugby)
Danny Care (Harlequins)
Calum Clark (Northampton Saints)
Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers)
Tom Croft (Leicester Tigers)
Lee Dickson (Northampton Saints)
Alex Corbisiero (London Irish)
Owen Farrell (Saracens)
Toby Flood (Leicester Tigers)
Ben Foden (Northampton Saints)
Alex Goode (Saracens)
Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints)
James Haskell (London Wasps)
Matt Kvesic (Worcester Warriors)
Joe Launchbury (London Wasps)
Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints)
Joe Marler (Harlequins)
Ben Morgan (Gloucester Rugby)
Geoff Parling (Leicester Tigers)
Chris Robshaw (Harlequins)
David Strettle (Saracens)
Henry Thomas (Sale Sharks)
Joel Tomkins (Saracens)
Manusamoa Tuilagi (Leicester Tigers)
Billy Twelvetrees (Gloucester Rugby)
Mako Vunipola (Saracens)
Billy Vunipola (London Wasps)
David Wilson (Bath Rugby)
Thomas Waldrom (Leicester Tigers)
Tom Wood (Northampton Saints)
Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers)
Tom Youngs (Leicester Tigers)

Croft has all clear to be involved.

Farrell, Morgan, Corbisiero and Clark all injured but will join up with squad to continue their recovery.

http://www.rfu.com/news/2013/march/news-articles/040313_croft

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Because croft is only just back from an incredibly serious injury and has only just been given the go ahead to play back to back games.
However he did look very good vs Sale, and as above, has been given the all clear to play fulltime now.
Was he named in the EPS? I probably wouldn't have him there this six nations, but I could see him overtaking Haskell over the summer.

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[ratsapprentice]

Croft was only brought in so that he could play on the Argentina tour. He is being coaxed back into rugby after his serious injury.
His naming in the EPS earlier this year was never with the intent of playing him in the 6N, unless his neck makes a miraculous post-recovery-recovery but I doubt it.
Billy Vunipola was brought in as "cover" for him, although this is actually just Lancaster fiddling with the EPS system.

 

[B10]

Sounds like he may be used v Italy if he does well in training.

"The indications last week were that it might be a bit early for Tom to get involved in this Six Nations," said Lancaster.

"But having played back-to-back games he has now had the all clear from the specialist and Leicester's and our medics. I also had a good chat with Richard Cockerill; he is happy with his form and we can clearly see he is playing well, but most importantly Tom feels he is ready - it's great to have him back in.


"We have competition in all places but the back row is very competitive and to have Tom available just adds to that so we are looking forward to seeing how he does this week. We are also bringing in Calum Clark as we want to keep supporting him and be involved during his recovery."

 

[j'nuh]

If we play Tom Croft, at least we'll have two wingers.

 

[Big Ewis]

If we play Tom Croft, at least we'll have two wingers.

yeh wow, you sure could use all the help you can get for this one !
Thank GOD for Croft against Italy !!

 

[Mrs. Peter Quinn]

Arrogant ******* though I may be, I donn't see this being close. Italy sometimes go to pieces away from home, especially if the first few tries come early-on. I just think back to the 2011 match when a fairly average/fairly good England side had no trouble taking them apart.

I predict Mako will be given the start, much deserved in my opinion (just because you're a good impact player, doesn't mean you can't be more than that). Youngs back at Hooker, Billy Vunipola( or croft) onto the bench, and Care and Flood to be given the green light at half-back.

 

[Crapspray]

Aunty Beeb's predicting light rain, so that could prevent a high-scoring game. To be perfectly honest I'd prefer if the emphasis was on maintaining discipline and standards. I'd happily trade a 20/30 point win for good preparation for Cardiff six days later.

I would like to see some limited experimenting, though. B. Vunipola should start; if Morgan is going to back for the Wales game then I think the back-row would be better off getting used to a ball carrier at 8. His brother gets a go at loosehead, which his play has deserved so far, and I'd keep Hartley starting. Twelvetrees starts at 12 alongside Tuilagi, Barritt benched. I'd also prefer to see Flood's bench spot go to Strettle, with Twelvetrees and Goode covering the position in a bind. If we are looking to run up a score then playing two wingers at once might help. Finally, Care gets the start which he's been very unlucky not to have so far in the competition.