[2015 Six Nations] England vs Italy (Round 2)

[msf]

Ok, I will stop complaining now, what do you think of England's chances then?

 

[Ragey Erasmus]

I can't see England losing this, I think it will be a case of how big a score we can put on Italy. It's a shame because I'd like all teams to be in with realistic chances of winning each year but Italy are just not up to it.

 

[Hap]

Masi to the centres and McLean back to FB?
We could have a LOT of fun if Ford kicked some bombs in his general direction and sent Watson after them - McLean's absolutely shocking under the high ball.

Masi, unexplainably, doesn't play at centre in the National team. Never. Don't ask me why, I really can't understand the reason since he's not good at fullback as he could be at centre. So, even with Campagnaro's injury, I think we'll continue to see Masi at 15 and McLean at wing.

In my opinion Brunel will go with this:
10. Allan
11. Sarto
12. Haimona
13. Morisi
14. McLean
15. Masi

Although this is not the right match in which try something new, I'd really be courious to see Haimona at 12, in that position he would be much useful because of his weight.

 

[msf]

Haha, after all that, Campagnaro isn't even starting (which is a shame because he is one of the few Italian players I would pay to watch).

 

[TheSaffycen]

What has happened to Sgarbi ? I thought he looked class for you guys, could Venditti and Haimona be the starting centres ? A lot of pace and power.

 

[Hap]

What does everyone think of Vendetti?

Thought he looked really dangerous a year or two ago but not seenmuch of him since...

I really liked the guy, really powerful house at 13/14. I think he went to Perpignan (spelling) and they're now in Pro D2. Might be harder for him making the squad over guys in Pro 12 and ERC.

Venditti is coming back from a last year injury (I think at right ankle). He's a beast in attacking game since he's fast, powerful and has a great impact on the defender. In the other hand he's really poor in defence, zero kicking game and he doesn't complete a pass since U20

He's now playing for Zebre, Benvenuti was the one who went to Perpignan but he left recently to join Bristol. The other italian who plays for Perpignan is Allan.

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What has happened to Sgarbi ? I thought he looked class for you guys, could Venditti and Haimona be the starting centres ? A lot of pace and power.

He destroyed his knee a year and a half ago and struggles to recover. He's not getting chances even at Treviso where he's behind Bacchin (a promising youngster, ignored from Brunel) and Christie.
Anyway, I agree with you about him.

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Haha, after all that, Campagnaro isn't even starting (which is a shame because he is one of the few Italian players I would pay to watch).

Yes, his 6Nation is already over. Knee injury.

 

[Hap]

I was writing about how I'd love to see Masi at centre and, here we are, probably Brunel reads therugbyforum.com

Here is Italy lineup:

Italia: 15 Luke McLean, 14 Leonardo Sarto, 13 Luca Morisi, 12 Andrea Masi, 11 Giambattista Venditti, 10 Kelly Haimona, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Sergio Parisse, 7 Mauro Bergamasco, 6 Francesco Minto, 5 George Biagi, 4 Marco Bortolami, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Andrea De Marchi
Riserva: 16 Andrea Manici, 17 Matias Aguero, 18 Dario Chistolini, 19 Josh Furno, 20 Samuela Vunisa, 21 Guglielmo Palazzani, 22 Tommaso Allan, 23 Giulio Bisegni


Big changes, I am very happy to see Masi at 12 and McLean at 15, defenitely their natural position. Good coming back for Venditti, with Sarto, at least, we're showing two real wings.
Still Haimona at 10, let's see, I'm not a big fan of him at flyhalf.
Zanni's 6 Nation is over, he's in doubt for RWC too (and it would be a disaster for us) and since Barbieri and Favaro are not fit we have to play with BergaMauro at 7. Sure yellow card.
Second row. We recover Bortolami, the only one who handles our lineouts. His missing with Ireland showed how much we lack in that phase if he's not on the pitch. He's our Matfield
Don't know if Castro could display another good game after the very hard one of last week, anyway Chistolini is really not bad (While we're waiting for Cittadini's call-up).
Out Aguero, De Marchi in. He needs to become the 2013 player, otherwise he's not very useful.

 

[Every Time Ref]

Furno's out? I really rate him, thought he had a great game against Italy

 

[goodNumber10]

Haha, after all that, Campagnaro isn't even starting (which is a shame because he is one of the few Italian players I would pay to watch).

indeed, he's a fantastic player in attack - dodgy defender though

 

[Hap]

Furno's out? I really rate him, thought he had a great game against Italy

I think he's out because Bortolami could have not 80 mins and because he's the only one who can poorly replace Bortolami in the lineouts.
Furno is a good player, can play 6 too and he's our future but, with Geldenhuys out, we have to wisely use our second rows.

 

[TommiG88]

Furno's out? I really rate him, thought he had a great game against Italy

Does that mean he had a bad game?

 

[Every Time Ref]

So you think Bortalomi-Biagi is better balanced than Bortalomi-Furno? Fair enough, I can see that.

I am very happy to see Masi at 12 and McLean at 15, defenitely their natural position.

Still Haimona at 10, let's see, I'm not a big fan of him at flyhalf.

I thought the Italian midfield looked very confused at the weekend. Haimona lined up at 12 a lot, while MacLean and/or Masi seemed to line up at 10, and both were incredibly ineffective there, I really couldn't see what it was supposed to achieve. Far and away the best Italy looked in attack was when Allan came on, and he appeared to be brought on at ten with Haimona at twelve.

So as far as I can see, the Italian coaching team doesn't think of Haimona as a flyhalf either, yet play him there while looking for alternatives (from the wing, from fullback, from the bench) to actually stand in the ten channel. I really have no idea what they were trying to achieve

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Does that mean he had a bad game?

Sorry! Against Ireland!

 

[Maverick1987]

I honestly think we should be disappointed with less than a 20-30 point win we are at home our bast part of the game is the pack and we easily match up to Italy in that area . The Italian backs are all over the shop and missing their best back in Campagnaro . If love to see us try to play some expansive rugby and blow them away a la Rome last year ...

 

[Hap]

So you think Bortalomi-Biagi is better balanced than Bortalomi-Furno? Fair enough, I can see that.

Exactly. Especially when we are playing with Minto too, who's another second/third row.

I thought the Italian midfield looked very confused at the weekend. Haimona lined up at 12 a lot, while MacLean and/or Masi seemed to line up at 10, and both were incredibly ineffective there, I really couldn't see what it was supposed to achieve. Far and away the best Italy looked in attack was when Allan came on, and he appeared to be brought on at ten with Haimona at twelve.

So as far as I can see, the Italian coaching team doesn't think of Haimona as a flyhalf either, yet play him there while looking for alternatives (from the wing, from fullback, from the bench) to actually stand in the ten channel. I really have no idea what they were trying to achieve

Totally agree with you about that. But very often it's like that.
I agree about Allan too, but to be honest, we have to say that Tommy was facing an Ireland that had already win the game, they were not suffocating us anymore. Anyway I still think that Allan is a better playmaker than Haimona.
I think that our staff push for Haimona at 10 for just one reason: solidity. But Kelly shown that is not that good in defence with a lot of missed tackles, just as an average weight flyhalf would have done so I don't understand it too much. I admit that in attack, ball in hand, he could be a threat but...couldn't he be a better threat at 12?
Well, that's how I see the situation!

Anyway Allan is very young, he has time with him.

 

[Patchey]

England unchanged, no surprise. Would like to see Cips and 36 get some more game time, but that's secondary really.

 

[Mrs. Peter Quinn]

Cips will get gametime on saturday but only if we already have a big lead I imagine.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Completely understand the unchanged 23.
Really would've liked to have seen Kitchener on the bench, but oh well!

 

[Daylightfire]

Quite happy to see an unchanged side, good for building consistency and partnerships within the team.

Not convinced that many of the injured would 'walk back' into the starting 15 right now which is a great tribute to our strength in depth!

If we can cut loose early doors then I would expect a big score..

Not posted here for AGES!!

 

[Every Time Ref]

This is rubbish, I want to moan about something

 

[Mumbles119]

This is rubbish, I want to moan about something

Haha yes, this.

I posted the squad announcement in my rugby clubs Facebook feed. We usually have big debate, but this time, one person said they would like to see Cipriani and Croft come on for game time. And everyone has just agreed! No discussion, no name calling for liking or disliking certain players, just all chilled out and enjoying we like our team right now.