England 47 Italy 17
England's players have been warned that significant improvement will be required if Ireland are to be beaten in the potential Six Nations title decider on Sunday March 1st. Stuart Lancaster's side have won their last four Tests and scored six tries in their 47-17 victory over Italy but are keenly aware Ireland will pose a sterner test.
Jonathan Joseph scored two superb tries as England recovered from a stuttering start to hammer Italy. The vistors, who had lost all 20 previous meetings and who were thrashed at home by Ireland last week, stunned Twickenham with a fourth-minute try by Sergio Parisse but England eventually settled to lead 15-5 at the break after a pushover try by Billy Vunipola and a scintillating effort by Joseph.
Luca Morisi rocked England with an excellent individual try soon after the restart but England regained the initiative with a tap-and-go score by Ben Youngs, before good work by Ford opened a hole that Joseph roared through.
Danny Cipriani came on for his first taste of the Six Nations in seven years and scored a try within a minute, Nick Easter charged over for the sixth before Morisi scored his second at the end for Italy.
Huge significance
Ireland have lost their last three Six Nations meetings with England and managed only two tries in their matches against Italy and France but Lancaster admits the trip to Dublin will shape his team's campaign.
“We’ve got two other big games but there is no doubt the game in Dublin has huge significance in relation to the championship,” said Lancaster. “We’ve won there before but we know just how good a side they are.”
As a result the management will be stressing that England’s defence needs tightening up. Lancaster felt his team were “soft on the edges” against Italy and also wants them to make a faster start to games. “It is a mentality thing and we were just a little bit slow out of the blocks,” said Lancaster. “There is definitely plenty to work on going into the Ireland game.”
The England captain, Chris Robshaw, is also wary of Ireland. "They have an extremely smart coach in Joe Schmidt, who generally finds weaknesses somewhere. It's about making sure we're clued up . . . because we need to try and find their weaknesses as well."
Mike Brown’s availability will depend on how the fullback feels after sitting out training this week, following his head injury against Italy. “He won’t play any part in training but there is no pressure as there is no game this week,” said Lancaster. “He seemed all right . . . he was just moaning about having to come off.”
Should Brown be ruled out, Lancaster indicated that Alex Goode would replace him rather than Anthony Watson being asked to switch to fullback.
England have not won a Six Nations Grand Slam since 2003 and have managed only one title over the same period. They have finished second in each of the last three seasons but Lancaster is hoping their away win in Cardiff will give them the necessary self-belief in the Aviva Stadium.
“The confidence we have gained down the years winning away in the Six Nations has been huge for us,” emphasised the head coach.
Guardian Service
ENGLAND: M Brown; A Watson, J Joseph, L Burrell, J May; G Ford, B Youngs; J Marler, D Hartley, D Cole; D Attwood, G Kruis; J Haskell, C Robshaw, B Vunipola.
Replacements: B Twelvetrees for Brown (13 mins), N Easter for Attwood (51 mins), T Youngs for Hartley, K Brookes for Cole (both 59 mins), D Cipriani for Ford, T Croft for Haskell (both 63 mins ), R Wigglesworth for B Youngs (67 mins), M Vunipola for Marler (72 mins).
ITALY: L McLean; L Sarto, L Morisi, A Masi, G Venditti;K Haimona, E Gori; A De Marchi, L Ghiraldini,M Castrogiovanni; G Biagi, M Bortolami; M Bergamasco, F Minto, S Parisse.
Replacements: S Vunisa for Minto (29 mins), J Furno for Bortolami (46 mins), A Manici for Ghiraldini, M Aguero for De Marchi (59 mins), D Chistolini for Castrogiovanni (60 mins), G Palazzani for Gori (71 mins), T Allan for Haimona (70 mins), G Bisegni for Sarto (72 mins).
Referee: John Lacey (Ireland).
