[2025 Six Nations] England vs Italy - 9/3/25

[AlRums]

MS probably dropped because, shock, horror, he runs with the ball in his hands

 

[Saintjay]

well, that's 'interesting'...

Happy to see Dingwall get a go. Can he do it? Will he get 2 games to try out as a 12 then get dropped in an MSmith-esque relegation. I'm in no doubt Slade is orders of magnitude better than me, but I'm still happy to see him Far Far Away, though we may need more of a Bangin' Man than Dingwall to replace him. At least Bostik has described DIngers as a glue player, which seems to be the role he performs for Saints.

JvP back for Randall is no great shock. JvP was quite an attacking, sniping young scrum half before it was coached out of him; it would be nice to see him back to that sort of a game.

Daly? Humph.

A complete back row on the bench is interesting; hope Ted Hill enjoys his 15 seconds of fame this week.

I really rated Fin Smith at Worcester and he's obviously kicked on since then at Saints; he's a terrific player, but why he's suddenly better than MSmith is a mystery. If his career follows a similar trajectory, England will be in front when F is subbed off, then blamed in the media for the subsequent defeat.

I think Dingwall has only got two caps and in those some people have decided he's not international class. So he already has the two games then dropped T-shirt.

Still it's probably more manshaming to get dropped for Daly.

 

[spartan32]

Deluded?! Are you nuts!! England could, and should, blow Italy off the park. There is more than enough quality in the side to do that. If they don't (as I said earlier) it's down to very poor coaching and demonstrates once and for all the SB and his team are not up to the task, I think it's totally reasonable for England fans to expect, nay demand, a strong an emphatic performance. Anything less and SB should do a Gatland.

 

[spartan32]

Like Dingwall and JvP.

Daly is just a waste of a cap. We learn absolutely nothing playing him here.
Tom Curry should be rested, it's ridiculous and he's not needed in this game with Ben a suitable replacement and we could have an extra back instead of the stupid 6:2 split.

Why can't Borthwick just stop making stupid decisions that negate his good ones.

Agree on Daly, although he has earned a last hurrah with some great off the bench performances. But yes, we learn nothing other than he's a quality player but not the future of the team. Would have been better just to have kept Smith in place at 15 to get more game time there and have Daly as the super sub. I would love to see him smash one over from 65 meters though!

 

[spartan32]

Glad to see JVP called up. Don't know much about Dingwall really. I know we need to be bringing young talent through but I must admit, given the struggles we've been having, why don't we just be consistent?! Keep the same lads on the pitch and start building better understanding between them. Let's be honest; Slades still going to be around at the AAs as no one else seems to have thrown there hand up hard, so the centre partnership of Lawrence and Slade is likely to endure for a while yet. The only thing that does make sense is MS on the bench. I'd like to see the Smiths get a half each. Get a proper side by side comparison and see how it goes, or at least give Marcus a solid half hour to make his case.

Anyway, it is what it is. If the weather is good come Saturday then England better show up and do a job on the Italians. They are a plucky team and they show some great flare here and there, but it's gotta be all White on the night, or SB should get his marching orders.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

If Dingwall is anything less than devastating it's going to be really embarrassing for all the Saints fans brigading every social media post about the team

 

[The Seeker]

England by 20.

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

If Dingwall is anything less than devastating it's going to be really embarrassing for all the Saints fans brigading every social media post about the team

The whole continuity thing makes perfect sense…..on paper.….and it's what others are doing. And maximising the chances of the national team is clearly important.

And yet. Part of the fun of the international game used to be seeing how players from different clubs with different styles melded together and with it an acceptance that things probably wouldn't be perfectly slick. Seeing Saints / Leinster / Benetton / Toulouse / Glasgow in disguise is great, but…..I guess when watching the international game I don't really want to see what I saw last week in different coloured shirts. But that genie's well out of the bottle.

 

[Nudger]

MS probably dropped because, shock, horror, he runs with the ball in his hands

Must terrify SB

 

[Saintjay]

If Dingwall is anything less than devastating it's going to be really embarrassing for all the Saints fans brigading every social media post about the team

I love how Saints backs play but I'll be honest I wouldn't ever call them brilliant when it comes to defence. So can definitely see Italy running in a few.

Will we be any worse than it has been, we shall see i guess.

 

[Don't Skip Leg Day]

If Dingwall is anything less than devastating it's going to be really embarrassing for all the Saints fans brigading every social media post about the team

Devastatingly good or devastatingly bad

 

[Welsh Exile]

It'll be close for most of the game with England winning by 15-20 in the end. In a way it's not good to play Italy after that shambles against France as you'd expect a big response and if it was in Italy then maybe Italy could do something but can't see it at the Allianz.

 

[BPM]

Glad to see JVP called up. Don't know much about Dingwall really. I know we need to be bringing young talent through but I must admit, given the struggles we've been having, why don't we just be consistent?! Keep the same lads on the pitch and start building better understanding between them. Let's be honest; Slades still going to be around at the AAs as no one else seems to have thrown there hand up hard, so the centre partnership of Lawrence and Slade is likely to endure for a while yet. The only thing that does make sense is MS on the bench. I'd like to see the Smiths get a half each. Get a proper side by side comparison and see how it goes, or at least give Marcus a solid half hour to make his case.

Anyway, it is what it is. If the weather is good come Saturday then England better show up and do a job on the Italians. They are a plucky team and they show some great flare here and there, but it's gotta be all White on the night, or SB should get his marching orders.

The game's on Sunday so I'd prefer we show up then

 

[BPM]

It'll be close for most of the game with England winning by 15-20 in the end. In a way it's not good to play Italy after that shambles against France as you'd expect a big response and if it was in Italy then maybe Italy could do something but can't see it at the Allianz.

Same. They have a point to prove and as others have said, England are on a bit of a hiding to nothing. We'll be criticised if we don't win by a big margin and losing simply isn't an option.

I'm very disillusioned with Borthwick at this stage. It all feels very poorly planned and reactive rather than trying to build something coherent. We're just not going anywhere.

 

[Reiser99]

Same. They have a point to prove and as others have said, England are on a bit of a hiding to nothing. We'll be criticised if we don't win by a big margin and losing simply isn't an option.

I'm very disillusioned with Borthwick at this stage. It all feels very poorly planned and reactive rather than trying to build something coherent. We're just not going anywhere.

I was thinking before I read your post that I'm just feeling apathy with England under Borthwick. I don't even care enough to criticise at this stage and while I'll watch the game, I'm not enthusiastic about it at all.

 

[Welsh Exile]

It's the no hope that kills you.

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

It'll be close for most of the game with England winning by 15-20 in the end. In a way it's not good to play Italy after that shambles against France as you'd expect a big response and if it was in Italy then maybe Italy could do something but can't see it at the Allianz.

Technically correct. But please don't.

 

[Welsh Exile]

Technically correct. But please don't.

Oh believe me, I did it deliberately and will continue to do so.

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

Oh believe me, I did it deliberately and will continue to do so.

Oh, just go close the roof at Loser's Lair…and then beat us there on the final day to put us all out of our misery.