A MITCH IN TIME...
‘Clunky England WILL get 27 better... bring on Wales!’
ENGLAND boss Steve Borthwick admitted his side were not at the races as they limped past Italy – but it could have been much worse.
This was the closest Italy have ever come to beating England with Borthwick’s side hanging on at the end.
They have never lost to Italy in 31 games, but it was too close for comfort for the 30,000-plus travelling fans.
A mad last few minutes saw Elliot Daly sin-binned for a trip, and Italian winger Monty Ioane being given the freedom of Rome by the English defence, who simply waved him through.
That was the Italians’ third score, earning them a bonus point, and if the game had any time left you would have fancied them finishing England off.
Borthwick (right) said: “There are plenty of areas that need to be better.
“There are certainly positives to pull out of it, but it looked clunky in bits... It looked like a team which only had three training sessions together.
“You are always looking for change. There are certainly things to be improved and we got exposed by an Italian team that moves the ball well, but we will improve on that next week.
“We will learn fast. You’ve got to remember that this Italy side, in this opening fixture last year, almost beat France.
“There were very few points in it, and I think many people afterwards thought they should have beaten France that day.
“They very nearly beat Scotland. They beat Australia two years ago.
“We were 27-17 up at 80 minutes, sat on the opposition goal-line. We’re disappointed that they scored that last try, but 27-17 would have been a good result.”
For England, Tommy Freeman was one of the few bright lights – alongside Ethan Roots, Alex Mitchell and Maro Itoje – and showed how much he has come on since being hooked at half-time by Eddie Jones in 2022.
And the wing vowed the side would show more against Wales at Twickenham on Saturday.
Freeman said: “The last game for me was South Africa, which I put to bed pretty quickly.
“We want to win this competition. We want to be the champions of Europe.
“Next week is back at home, in front of English fans. We want to put on a show for them, an England performance – something they can remember. And there’s no better team to do that against than Wales.”
Italy galloped to a 10-0 lead, and were 17-14 up at the break with England looking miles second best.
The defence went absent without leave twice, to concede tries to Italy scrum-half Alessandro Garbisi and the former Harlequins fullback Tommy Allan.
Daly provided a good finish when Freeman showed the huge value of coming off his wing to break through the midfield and set up the Saracens star.
Ford (right), with his kicking, had kept
England in touch.
And then scrumhalf Mitchell put the visitors in front for the first time in the match – after he dummied and nosed his way through a gap, before taking two of the Italian defenders over the line with him.
A conversion by Ford made it 21-17 – with 45 minutes on the clock. Ford booted another two penalties before he was hauled off, then Daly (below, scoring his try) was yellow carded for his trip on Tommaso Menoncello.
Ioane’s try rattled nerves, but England held on. They showed nothing here for any genuine title contenders to worry about. ITALY: Tries: Garbisi, Allan, Ioane; Pen: Allan; Cons: Allan (2) ENGLAND: Tries: Daly, Mitchell; Pens: Ford (5); Con: Ford
We looked like a team that had only had three training sessions