The short answer is: kind of. If you look at the first half, the answer would be no, but the second half was a different story altogether. With the second round of the Six Nations now coming to a close, how did England perform against what is the weakest team in the tournament? R&M discusses this below.
It's safe to say that, despite the huge winning margin, England were fairly poor today - they did nothing special, and there are vast improvements to be made should they wish to beat the likes of Ireland and Wales. There were a few problem areas evident during the match for the men in white, in particular the line-out, which did not function anywhere close to 100 per cent, as well as George Ford in the 10 shirt. However, the subs from the bench did make the impact that Eddie Jones wanted to see, Danny Care in particular who changed the whole outlook for the visitors.
Let's start with the line-out: for whatever reason today, communication between the hooker and the other players involved appeared to be lacking. On more than one occassion the ball seemed to go where no one was expecting, meaning Italy were gifted with a lot more possession in the first half than perhaps they should have been. For example, for one line-out Hartley threw the ball right to the back where the England players just looked at it in surprise, giving Italy the time they needed to pounce on it. Over the rest period, emphasis must be placed on this area of the game. Ireland, Wales and, to some extent, France are very different beasts to Italy, and giving away possession like England did today would mean a half-time score the team cannot come back from.
Another major problem today was discipline. The amount of penalties conceded was beyond frustrating, and England were lucky Italy could not capitalise on this. Make no mistake, teams like Ireland and Wales WILL exploit that amount of possession. It is worth pointing out here that Italy were no 'mugs' in the first half, a label consistently put on them. Campagnaro in particular had a great game for Italy, and they were constantly in England's half pushing towards the try line for much of the 40 minutes. They seemingly improve year on year, and their performance against France should have been an indication of what England could expect, and in the first half they got the much improved Italian side. However, with kickers the likes of Dan Biggar and Jonny Sexton (albeit the latter is a doubt for the England match), England cannot afford to give away penalties, because there is no doubt they will be punished more so than Italy could today.
Ford in the 10 shirt is something Eddie Jones is going to find harder and harder to justify to the English supporters, particularly after two extremely lackluster performances against both Scotland and Italy. He may have scored a try in today's match, but it did not make up for how poor he was in other areas. His passing was inaccurate, and kicking from hand was average at best. When you contrast this with how well Owen Farrell played - he was even considered by many to be the true man of the match today - and it becomes obvious he should be moved back to 10 with Ford demoted to the bench. Jonathan Joseph can then be slotted back in at 12, allowing for Elliot Daly to come into the squad at 13, something vehemently supported throughout the country. Farrell's kicks at goal were immaculate, his passing helped England get back into the match in the second half, and just his general around the field play was well above the level of Ford. A quick mention of Matt Kvesic as well - whilst Haskell had a good match on the whole, his awful tackle in the second half very nearly cost him 10 minutes in the bin. He is known for losing his head at times and not thinking his actions through. Because of this, it is about time that the Gloucester flanker, an out-and-out 7 it should be added, is given his chance to represent England again.
There were some positives from today's match, predominantly the play in the second half. With the emptying of the bench, England found themselves getting into the game much, much more than they had in the first half. It all centered around Care, and the way he sped the game up from the second he took to the field. Ben Youngs had a better game than he did against Scotland, but he is still way too slow at the breakdown. England did not have a huge amount of possession in the first half, and what they did have was wasted by not getting the ball out quick enough. It is no surprise England scored 4 of their 5 tries after Care took to the field. The speed with which he got the ball out put the men in white in the perfect position to exploit an Italian side that had admittedly started to fall off by this point. A fast start could be crucial against the likes of Ireland and Wales, so it would be nice to see Care in the 9 shirt once again. Many considered it a bizarre decision for Italian broadcasters to select Youngs as man of the match, particularly as his replacement was better in almost every aspect of the game today.
It was also a good day for those players who were set to make their debuts for England - both Maro Itoje and Paul Hill got their chances to take to the field. Itoje in particular made an immediate impact, gaining England some crucial turnovers that helped change the reflection of the match. Everyone knows more territory leads to more points, and the debutante helped his team to achieve this. The second half was much improved over the first half, but not all of this was necessarily down to England. As has become commonplace with the Italian side, after about 50 minutes, whether this be down to lack of fitness or just sheer exhaustion mentally, the Azzurri just dropped off completely, and nothing they did could stop England from crossing the try line another four times.
Despite a much better second half, and a 33 point winning margin, England supporters should not let that result fool them. There is a lot to work on in the next two weeks for the men in white, as on the whole it was a below average performance. If it wasn't for Italy losing all impetus, as is the norm, the result could have been much closer - indeed, if the performance from the first half for both sides carried on into the second half, Italy could have grabbed a win. They were by far the better side for the first 40, and if they can make this last 80 minutes, they could become a force to be reckoned with. The message from this is that England have to start better. Yes, Ireland have been below par in the tournament thus far, but England do not stand much of a chance, if any, playing the way they did today, particularly in the first 40. There were positives, but they can so easily be overshadowed by the negatives.
So, there you have it! Time for a two week break now, but R&M will be back with a preview of England v Ireland when the teams are announced.
Thanks for reading ruckers,
Jess.
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