England hand out lesson to Italy as hat-trick hero Joseph shines
ENGLAND head coach Eddie Jones acclaimed Jonathan Joseph’s complete performance after the Bath centre ran-in a hat-trick of tries as Italy were swept aside 40-9 in Sunday’s RBS 6 Nations clash in Rome.
Joseph plundered all three of his scores in the final half hour and struck for the first time when the Red Rose led just 11-9 against a determined home team, prompting Jones to declare he had attacked “exceptionally well”.
“Jonathan was very good. His defence last week against Scotland was outstanding. He knows when to close and when to drift,” Jones said.
“Sometimes a 13 doesn’t get a lot of ball and at Murrayfield you don’t get a lot of ball. But here he looked sharp on his feet.
“He has a great short kicking game, a good outside break and has lovely footwork. We saw a bit of that against Italy.
“He read the game well – a 13 is like a number eight in that he has to be able to read the game well and he did that exceptionally well.
“Last week he did exceptionally well in defence, this week he did exceptionally well in attack and his defence was very good as well. That Italian 13 he was up against is a serious player.”
England remain on course for the Grand Slam after following up their 15-9 victory over Scotland by prevailing at the Stadio Olimpico, where George Ford and Owen Farrell also crossed.
“We wanted to be two from two and we’re two from two. We did some good things in the second half, in the first half we allowed Italy into the game,” Jones said. “The first half set the second half up for us and I was pleased by the way that we put them away.
“We could have scored 60 points out there and in the end we were quite dominant.
“We weren’t expecting to score a lot of points in the first half, we were expecting to do that in the second half and that’s how it turned out
“We’ve had two games and two wins and no major injuries, so we’re sailing along pretty well at the moment.”
Jones admitted the game had panned out the way he expected it to, if not in quite with the style for which he had hoped.
Jones said: “Look, we thought we’d get our points in the last 20 minutes and that’s how it turned out. Really we let them into the game in the first half with ill discipline, turned over the ball easily – I think our first three possessions, we gave it back to them.
“But in the second half, we got our rhythm and it was a pretty good performance.
“We tried to take some pace into the game early – we thought if we got pace into the game early, they would fatigue in the last 20, so I think it’s a result of what we did in the game. Obviously a number of injuries didn’t help them [Italy], but that’s rugby, isn’t it?”
As well as positives, Jones will look to address areas of concern as he prepares for the clash with Ireland.
He said: “Of our ball, we are not attacking so well. We gave the ball back to too easily. Off their ball, we attacked really well today. The breakdown, we had some good periods and some bad periods, so we just need that consistency.”
Sergio Parisse admitted Italy had taken a step backwards since leaving Paris with a creditable 23-21 defeat by France last weekend.
“We lost by 40 points. Most of all I’m disappointed for the fans, but the best team won,” the Azzurri captain and number eight said.
“We played until the end against France, but that wasn’t the case against England. We were expecting a very physical game and that was the case.
“Scotland is now a crucial match for us. We have to keep the same approach and keep working with determination.”
Skipper Dylan Hartley admitted his frustration at his team’s first-half display, but was delighted with the way they responded during the second half.
Hartley said: “The first half was frustrating, but overall it was a very satisfying win for us. We weren’t 100 per cent and we have got high standards, so we have got stuff to work on there.
“Breakdown-wise first half, we were a bit off the money, we were slow to get to the ruck, a few side entries, holding on to the ball, things we need to tidy up. I think we let Italy into the game there.
“We seemed surprised when they were competing for the ball, so second half we came out, we took the onus on ourselves to compete at the ruck a bit harder, get a foot on the ball, mix things up at the breakdown and I think it got us a good return there.”