ENGLAND BAIT O’SHEA TO BE ‘POSITIVE’
ENGLAND lock George Kruis has joined Eddie Jones in taking aim at Italy on the eve of today’s Six Nations clash at Twickenham. Jones stated that the Azzurri can be a gifted team if their head coach Conor O’Shea takes a positive approach – a reference to the controversial no-ruck tactics employed by the former Ireland international at the same venue two years ago. It is a view echoed by Kruis, who forms a second-row partnership alongside Joe Launchbury after Maro Itoje was ruled out by forwards coach Steve Borthwick because of a knee injury. ‘If Conor lets them play then they can play and produce some magic out the back. ‘We’re prepared for that and we’re not underestimating them,’ Kruis (left) said. ‘They’ve put on some pretty good performances in this Six Nations and we know they could chuck anything at us – like they have done previously. ‘They’re unpredictable and can play in different styles. With Italy you’ve got to expect anything and that’s exactly what we’re thinking about. ‘The game starts with the forwards so we know we’ve got a big job to do in the pack.’ O’Shea, meanwhile, is backing Kyle Sinckler to become a legend of the English game. He oversaw the 25-yearold prop’s early development as Harlequins director of rugby and from the start of the Eddie Jones reign he was urging the Australian to select a unique talent. ‘He is explosive, he has got the lot. For all the players we had at Quins Chris Robshaw, Mike Brown etc – I said “Eddie, the man is Sink”. ‘The kid is special. England are bloody lucky to have him and he’s going to become a pretty big legend in this game.’
ENGLAND: Daly; Cokanasiga, Tuilagi, Te’o, May; Farrell (capt), Youngs; Genge, George, Sinckler; Launchbury, Kruis; Shields, B Vunipola, Curry. Reps: CowanDickie, Moon, Cole, Hughes, Wilson, Robson, Ford, Slade.
ITALY: Hayward; Padovani, Campagnaro, Morisi, Esposito; Allan, Tebaldi; Lovotti, Bigi, Ferrari; Ruzza, Budd; Negri, Parisse (capt), Steyn. Reps: Ghiraldini, Traore, Pasquali, Sisi, Polledri, Palazzani, McKinley, Castello.