[2016 RBS Six Nations] Round 2: Italy vs. England (14/02/2016)

[TRF_heineken]

Venue: Stadio Olympico
Time: 14:00 GMT​

 

[TommiG88]

13-56

 

[TRF_heineken]

13-56

The Battle of Poitiers

 

[AzaMatt]

13-56

56 points is alot to score for parisse

 

[TommiG88]

56 points is alot to score for parisse

He can't kick though....

 

[AzaMatt]

He can't kick though....

haha im only messing. he might not be able to kick but it seemed like he was the only one willing to grow some balls and attempt it!. anyways back on topic. england win, medium-heavy defeat for italy, cannot see any other outcome for this match. italy played well against a poor french side, england didnt play to their best either but even if they have a shocker they should still beat italy.

 

[TommiG88]

haha im only messing. he might not be able to kick but it seemed like he was the only one willing to grow some balls and attempt it!. anyways back on topic. england win, medium-heavy defeat for italy, cannot see any other outcome for this match. italy played well against a poor french side, england didnt play to their best either but even if they have a shocker they should still beat italy.

Agreed. I think it will be a routine pull further away in the last 20.

 

[Every Time Ref]

He can't kick though....

Neither can Haimona ... ! Parisse might honestly have been the best kicking option!

 

[spartan32]

Certainly and England victory is expected, but the question is: should Jones use this as an opotunity to test out Daly, Itoje and Clifford (I'm afraid as long as Hartley is skipper George is going to have to wait) and even give Devoto a run at 12 or does he stick with the side to allow more time to settle?

If I were to guess I think he'll stick with the same starting 15 but bench some new boys and get them early once victory is assured.

 

[Ragey Erasmus]

England to lose because they had a bad world cup and Italy are on the up. Oh wait, I'm not Andy Nicol. I think England will win, especially if we keep the penalty count down. We should look to win by a lot, after losing the last 3 6N on points difference, we need to take all the points we can get.

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

Certainly and England victory is expected, but the question is: should Jones use this as an opotunity to test out Daly, Itoje and Clifford (I'm afraid as long as Hartley is skipper George is going to have to wait) and even give Devoto a run at 12 or does he stick with the side to allow more time to settle?

If I were to guess I think he'll stick with the same starting 15 but bench some new boys and get them early once victory is assured.

I think your last line is spot on. He needs to build continuity and keep picking his strongest starting XV; within that though there are clear reasons for looking at changes at 10, 12 and flanker. Unless Itoje etc are demanding a starting place because they're better than the incumbents, just keep introducing them from the bench. If they're up to the job they'll claim the starting shirt on merit soon enough.

 

[Ragey Erasmus]

I think your last line is spot on. He needs to build continuity and keep picking his strongest starting XV; within that though there are clear reasons for looking at changes at 10, 12 and flanker. Unless Itoje etc are demanding a starting place because they're better than the incumbents, just keep introducing them from the bench. If they're up to the job they'll claim the starting shirt on merit soon enough.

They need to be on the bench to do that.

 

[Peat]

There will be minimal changes but...

I think your last line is spot on. He needs to build continuity and keep picking his strongest starting XV; within that though there are clear reasons for looking at changes at 10, 12 and flanker. Unless Itoje etc are demanding a starting place because they're better than the incumbents, just keep introducing them from the bench. If they're up to the job they'll claim the starting shirt on merit soon enough.

... Itoje is demanding a starting place on merit in every game he can play and can't do more without game time; he wasn't even on the bench and isn't guaranteed to be here either. Ditto a few others.

I agree he needs to keep building continuity, but I don't think he's picking his strongest starting XV at the moment, hence why people are jumping up and down demanding changes.

 

[spartan32]

I think a lot of people out there want to see a raft of young talent rolled out and be given a chance to show what they can do, and that may well lead to some exciting rugby being played by England. But let me ask you this:
Would you rather England made sweeping changes, brought in all the young lads, played some pretty rugby but lost,
Or England play the experienced lads with cooler heads, played boring rugby, but grand slam?

Now I know there will be those out there that says to two things are not mutually exclusive, but I would suggest too many young heads out on the field at once can have only one result, especially against The celts, and I for one would just like to see England winning games by hook or by crook, get back into the top 4 and start imposing ourselves on the world stage once more. With that kind of dominance comes a fear factor for other teams that provides the psychological edge that would give younger players more time and space to do their stuff and grow into the English unit.

 

[Bee]

Even England won't mess up this match
So I would give a couple of youngsters, e.g. Itoje some playing time.

 

[Peat]

I think a lot of people out there want to see a raft of young talent rolled out and be given a chance to show what they can do, and that may well lead to some exciting rugby being played by England. But let me ask you this:
Would you rather England made sweeping changes, brought in all the young lads, played some pretty rugby but lost,
Or England play the experienced lads with cooler heads, played boring rugby, but grand slam?

Now I know there will be those out there that says to two things are not mutually exclusive, but I would suggest too many young heads out on the field at once can have only one result, especially against The celts, and I for one would just like to see England winning games by hook or by crook, get back into the top 4 and start imposing ourselves on the world stage once more. With that kind of dominance comes a fear factor for other teams that provides the psychological edge that would give younger players more time and space to do their stuff and grow into the English unit.

This argument would be a lot more compelling if the experienced lads with cooler heads had shown proclivity towards Grand Slams before.

The desire to see winning rugby is what sparks the demand for change.

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

I think the grand slam died on Sunday anyway. England need a backrow that will function, a half back pairing that can control the game and centres who can cause the opposition a lot of trouble while being defensively sound. They more or less have the players to do it but need to pick them and blood them at a pace that won't cause damage. Going with the side that played Scotland would be a mistake imo as that side was obviously flawed and would have lost to any competent outfit. If they do go with the same side they'll win comfortably because it's Italy but it probably won't work long term.

 

[spartan32]

This argument would be a lot more compelling if the experienced lads with cooler heads had shown proclivity towards Grand Slams before.

The desire to see winning rugby is what sparks the demand for change.

That's a fair point. For my part I would like to see Daly get a start, I don't think it can do any harm given that the centre pairing wasn't really doing anything very special. And there can't be any harm in giving Clifford a start either, and for that matter Devoto as 12 as Faz was more or less useless.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Daly isn't even travelling to Italy
Yayayay

 

[Tony Manx]

I think a lot of people out there want to see a raft of young talent rolled out and be given a chance to show what they can do, and that may well lead to some exciting rugby being played by England. But let me ask you this:
Would you rather England made sweeping changes, brought in all the young lads, played some pretty rugby but lost,
Or England play the experienced lads with cooler heads, played boring rugby, but grand slam?

Now I know there will be those out there that says to two things are not mutually exclusive, but I would suggest too many young heads out on the field at once can have only one result, especially against The celts, and I for one would just like to see England winning games by hook or by crook, get back into the top 4 and start imposing ourselves on the world stage once more. With that kind of dominance comes a fear factor for other teams that provides the psychological edge that would give younger players more time and space to do their stuff and grow into the English unit.

Exactly!