England expect Venter backlash after humbling at hands of Irish
PAUL Gustard claims his old Saracens pal Brendan Venter will arrive at Twickenham a ‘hurt’ man and desperate to save Italy’s Six Nations campaign from complete oblivion.
England’s defensive mastermind expects the entire coaching staff to be doing everything possible to stop the rot after two heavy home defeats that have severely damaged the team’s belief.
After being burned by the Welsh and Irish in Rome, they find themselves again rooted at the bottom of the table having shipped 96 points and scored just 17 in reply.
Yet Gustard is not taking the Italian threat lightly and insists: “Brendan will be hurting. He is the defence coach and they shipped 60. He is going to be upset and you have to find a solution – they got cut quite a few times in a certain area of the pitch.
“There were a lot of inside balls, in the wider channels they got physically out-muscled a bit. So it is up to him to find the one or two things that you can fix in two weeks and bring that towards us.
“We have got different threats to Ireland and play a slightly different way to them. It is up to Brendan to try to find a system to cope with our attack.”
Gustard acknowledges that it will not be an easy task for Venter, but is confident that alongside head coach Conor O’Shea, the pair will get Italy moving in the right direction.
Gustard added: “Italy’s playing pool is not as deep as ours but they have some quality players and it is about finding the right style and blend of players to fit that style – allied to the coaching methodology.”
“Italy are still in the infancy of this journey. You have two former head coaches with Conor O’Shea and Brendan and they have got to find a way of working together to adapt their own styles and philosophies about rugby to work for Italy.
“They didn’t get spanked by Wales. The Welsh pulled away in the final 20 minutes. There were moments in that game where Italy had opportunities.
“They were beaten heavily by Ireland (63-10) at the weekend but you only have to go back to 2013 at Twickenham and England beat them only 18-11. And the first game last season against France, Parisse had a drop-goal in the 82nd minute which would have won them the game.
“All we can focus on is the opposition in front of us and make sure we get the right result next Sunday.
“There are a lot of things we have with us now. We have got belief in how we play, we are adaptable in how we can play, how we can find a way to win.
“We have a good set-piece, good defence, good attack, we have got very good players. When you have got all those things coming together allied to the sort of form we have been in all year, and the fact we are at home, makes us a formidable match up for anybody.
“We are the reigning Six Nations champions and we want to win the Six Nations again this year. In order to do so we have to beat Italy.”