Italy determined to silence relegation talk
ITALY are hoping lightning strikes twice when they face England in today’s Six Nations showdown at the Stadio Olimpico.
For the first time in their history, the Azzurri’s under-20s defeated their English counterparts — last year’s grand slam winners — in Treviso on Friday night to give credibility to the belief they are producing young players of genuine international promise.
But it would be an even bigger upset if Italy toppled Eddie Jones’s men this weekend.
England have won all 28 previous meetings in a series dating back to 1991 and apart from close run visits to Rome in 2008, 2010 and 2012, they have prevailed comfortably in the Six Nations.
Italy opened 2022 with a 37-10 defeat by France and while their performance was spirited, head coach Kieran Crowley knows their 33-match losing streak must end soon to stop questions over the credibility of their presence in the tournament.
Crowley said: ‘We know we have to start pulling our weight. I’m not against promotion-relegation. It might be a good thing. That’s a decision for the boardrooms. What I will say is that we can silence that chat with our own performances.’
England prop Will Stuart insists England will use their experience of the 2020 Six Nations to resurrect their title prospects this year.
A shattering opening-day defeat by Scotland has placed Jones’s team on to the back foot two years ago, England recovered from an early loss to lift the crown and Stuart insists they must reproduce the same unity to defy the odds.
‘We lost our first game – it was my first game for England – against France and ended up winning it so it’s in our control still,’ said Stuart. ‘That was quite a strange tournament. We played our last game out here in Rome in October.
‘You don’t want to lose your first game in an England shirt but we built momentum after that. This tournament is all about building momentum. It was really important to stick together.’
ITALY: Padovani, Mori, Brex, Zanon, Ioane, Garbisi, Varney, Fischetti, Lucchesi, Ceccarelli, Cannone, Ruzza, Steyn, Lamaro, Halafihi. reps: Faiva, Traore, Pasquali, Sisi, Negri, Pettinelli, Fusco, Marin.
ENGLAND: Steward, Malins, Marchant, Slade, Nowell, Smith, Randall, Genge, George, Stuart, Ewels, Isiekwe, Itoje, Curry, Dombrandt. reps: Cowan-Dickie, Marler, Sinckler, Chessum, Simmonds, Youngs, Ford, Daly. REFEREE: D Murphy (Australia).
TV: Kick-off, 3pm, Stadio Olimpico, LIVE Virgin Media 1, UTV.