Chargey Hodgson: Does it again for England
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It was a case of close but no cigar for Italy as England claimed another unconvincing 19-15 Six Nations victory in Rome on Saturday.
Italy outscored their hosts two tries to one, however it was once again the boot of Owen Farrell that saved the day for England as the young centre contributed 14 points in horrendous conditions.
The Azzurri will be kicking themselves after leading 12-6 at half-time thanks to two quickfire tries before the break, but weren't able to keep up the pressure in the second half as England were forced to dig deep against their stubborn hosts to claim back-to-back away wins.
After a scrappy opening littered with poor kicking out of hand, England were unfortunate not to bag the game's opening try on the half-hour when David Strettle's kick-through was eventually touched down by Phil Dowson.
Referee Jerome Garces had already blown for obstruction on Strettle - and Farrell converted the resulting penalty before adding another soon afterwards.
But two minutes before the break, a pair of grubber kicks caused confusion and wing Giovanbattista Venditti was on-hand to punish Ben Foden's fumble by falling over the line in the corner.
England seemed set to enter the dressing room one point to the good but from the restart, Foden's attempted off-load was intercepted for centre Tommaso Benvenuti to race under the posts from the halfway line and ignite the stadium.
Italy pivot Kris Burton capitalised with a penalty that made it 15-6 early in the second period, but England immediately clawed their way back into it when opposite number Charlie Hodgson charged down Andrea Masi's attempted clearance for a try out of nowhere.
It was the England fly-half's second charge-down try in as many games - and once again proved to be the turning point in the match.
The introductions of Lee Dickson and Ben Morgan cemented the visitors' momentum - providing the opportunity for the flawless Farrell to drive over a 54th minute penalty and secure the narrowest of leads.
With Martin Castrogiovanni injured in the first period, England had more than held their own up front and Farrell stretched the advantage to 19-15 in the 65th minute from a penalty awarded at a scrum.
Tobias Botes replaced Burton for the final half-hour and was handed two shots at goal that would have won the game - but the South African-born scrum-half was woefully off-target with both as England crept home.
Man of the match: A committed display by a number of Italians ultimately went unrewarded, with skipper Sergio Parisse once again leading from the front. However, a nerveless and flawless display of kicking from Owen Farrell amid freezing conditions in Rome helped the visitors claim their come-from-behind win.
Moment of the match: The dramatic double strike from Giovanbattista Venditti and Tommaso Benvenuti had given the Azzurri a clear lead at the half-time interval before England managed to turn the tables through that second-half try from Charlie Hodgson that sparked England into life.
Villain of the match: The weather! In freezing conditions, scores were always going to be hard to come by and it was no surprise that both sides struggled to create much.
The scorers:
For Italy:
Tries: Venditti, Benvenuti
Con: Burton
Pen: Burton
For England:
Try: Hodgson
Con: Farrell
Pens: Farrell 4
Italy: 15 Andrea Masi, 14 Giovanbattista Venditti, 13 Tommaso Benvenuti, 12 Gonzalo Canale, 11 Luke McLean, 10 Kristopher Burton, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Sergio Parisse (c), 7 Robert Barbieri, 6 Alessandro Zanni, 5 Quintin Geldenhuys, 4 Marco Bortolami, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Andrea Lo Cicero.
Replacements: 16 Tommaso D'Apice, 17 Lorenzo Cittadini, 18 Antonio Pavanello, 19 Mauro Bergamasco, 20 Fabio Semenzato, 21 Tobias Botes, 22 Luca Morisi.
England: 15 Ben Foden, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Brad Barritt, 12 Owen Farrell, 11 David Strettle, 10 Charlie Hodgson, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Phil Dowson, 7 Chris Robshaw (c) 6 Tom Croft, 5 Tom Palmer, 4 Mouritz Botha, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley, 1 Alex Corbisiero.
Replacements: 16 Rob Webber, 17 Matt Stevens, 18 Geoff Parling, 19 Ben Morgan, 20 Lee Dickson, 21 Jordan Turner-Hall, 22 Mike Brown.
Referee: Jérôme Garces (France)
Comments
praetorian says...
Yesterday Italy played a trip back in time when we were newcomers in the tournament and the referees tolerated that little bit extra from the dominant sides. Not a problem when we lost by 30+ points, but now that we play tight games, it is.
Foul play on Botes in a possibly try-scoring action, just minutes after the same was done on Parise, requires a yellow card, or the message to England is "yes you can".
Also I doubt that the "65th minute penalty awarded at a scrum" was a right one.
Anyway, again a good performance like last week. We can win any of these matches. I don't think we can get any serious tactical suggestion from a game played in such environment.
Posted 12:05 12th February 2012
jehosophat says...
Plenty of the usual English-bashing from people who clearly have zero knowledge of the 6N. Two away wins in a row with a caretaker manager deliberately blooding players for the future, and numerous key players injured, would be a satisfactory start for any 6N side. Crushing, flowing, high-scoring away wins are pretty rare in the 6N at the best of times let alone in heavy snow! The fact any team in the tournament can potentially win at home adds to the tension.
The penalty count, tireless defence, and attitude are causes for hope. Farrell's kicking keeps him at 12 for me unless Flood is fully fit and his kicking game is going well - as in JW's early days, great kicking is worth the downsides of him now being a true inside centre - as long as it is temporary! I think people are forgetting just how green a lot of these players are.
Three tough games now. One out of three, with more attacking flair shown, would be acceptable. Two out of three would be a fantastic result regardless of the manner of play. Bring it on.
Posted 11:48 12th February 2012
carpelone says...
Jontheref
Spot on. The refs are rubbish. IRB need to restore their credibility not to find themselves on the some side of Blatter's FIFA.
Posted 11:37 12th February 2012
kybone says...
One thing i will point out is that as we know England are building and this is only the second time these players have played together. Yes we haven't been brilliant by any means but if we remember when this current Wales team first came together they used to lose these sorts of games! And Ireland almost lost in Rome last year despite having a team thats been together for about a decade. Don't under estimate what a solid start this is just because the rugby isn't flashy.
Posted 11:21 12th February 2012
Chesh10 says...
Eng would be mad to get rid of Barrett against Wales, he's the best defensive centre in the competition and in the 2nd half started to show some serious attacking Chops...Best way to tackle wales massive backs? Pick bigger ones...return of the jersey giant anyone?
Morgan (plays the welsh lads week in n out for Dowson, tuilagi for Farrell who drops to the bench, flood for hogson and Youngs for Dickson...lawes onto the bench as botha n palmer r doing well enough...
Posted 11:09 12th February 2012
Physiodan says...
@nhsaint. I agree Ben Youngs is not on form and deserves to be rested but I think have the problem is youngs isn't playing his natural game. Hodgeson must be calling the shots and asking youngs to kick. Let's see Dickson with flood next game, and then bring youngs on with a tiring defence! Wood in for croft... Pull the other one. Wood in for the seemingly club like player that is dowsing and move robshaw to 8 where he plays in the absence of Easter. Once lawes is fit we will have the grunt and parling to start and let him run the line out! Barrett has done little so tuilagi will be refreshing, and gives Ashton and foden someone to run off!
Posted 10:17 12th February 2012
JamieTheProp says...
The only thing to say is that this is an inexperienced, experimental and young England team - with so few caps it is going to take a season or two to get up to speed and the coming games will see tweaking of the personnel in order to move forward.
It doesn't matter what Welsh, Scottish, Irish or French fans think - we can only judge this team by our own very high standards and work hard to get there. There is only England in this competition who have any experience in what it takes to be the best in the world (world champions) so ignore everybody else and just get on with moving forward and slowly getting us where we need to be in 4 years!
Posted 09:38 12th February 2012
carpelone says...
@ Greyprop
Are you surprised? He comes from a country where they do not have any clue on how to scrummage.
And they are even surprised when they get hammered by the Italian scrum.
Posted 09:38 12th February 2012
kissmyass says...
England should be utterly ashamed of the state of their international team. Given the resources they have, there is no justifiable excuse for it.
Posted 08:50 12th February 2012
carpelone says...
I do not know why I bother watching games officiating by such clueless and incompetent referees.
I had hoped that the referee was a young French ref, whom I saw administrating in the HC in an excellent way (I do not remember the name, though).
The first two scrums should have been penalty to Italy, if you go back and see Corbisiero position. Robshaw deserved a yellow for deliberately tripping Parisse.
All in all, Italy gifted it away, on the 15 - 6, with England start sinking, a turnover ball in hand (which was priceless) and with such terrible decision from Bortolami to pass the ball back and with such a slow motion clearance by Masi.
At the end, Italy did not deserve to win, too many mistakes.
England showed humility, composure and deserved to get the win.
Posted 08:48 12th February 2012
jontheref says...
Greyprop
No the laws haven't changed, just the "interpretations" dictated by his honour, Paddy O'Brien.
Gosh how the standard of refereeing at the top level has plummetted since he tookover as refs boss.
Garces was very poor at the scrum, does not understand that it is a contest, and yes, the England front row conned him, and got away with it.
Posted 08:37 12th February 2012
pembs says...
So in 2 games against the weakest teams how many tries have England created themselves? The answer is the same as, how many more games will they win this year? 0
Posted 07:16 12th February 2012
Greyprop says...
Have the scrummaging laws changed since my days? Every week I watch Dylan Hartley drive up and pop out of the scrum. Illegal in my day, but refs don't seem to notice or care now!
Posted 05:52 12th February 2012
Egdar says...
Well done Owen Farrell, Wilkinsonesque with the boot, even if he does look like a stroke victim when he lines up the kick. If England can get their attacking game together this will be a strong team. Bit of a worry though - where have Ashton and Foden gone in attack? And why is Ben Youngs playing so joylessly? Dickson/ Morgan must start against Wales. Remember Italy beat (WC losers by 1 point) France last year - so it's a good comeback and good win for England. Onwards and Upwards! Anyone else sick of the slavery anthem Swing Low - with ll their cash the RFU could commision someone like Paul McCartney or Thom Yorke to pen a new one.
Posted 00:37 12th February 2012
Jediboy says...
Not sure I agree with some of the simplistic comments posted here.
It wasn't pretty but in those conditions it was never going to be. 2nd half better for England but still a lot of work to do, mostly in attack. There is however potential there. And another away win, so happy about that.
Italy played well and will only get better.
It's another step on the journey so well done England.
Posted 00:23 12th February 2012
melkdave says...
@yelloj321
Well of course we will all bow down to your superoir rugby knowlege.Of course its very easy to play fast expansive rugby when its freezing cold and snowing on a heavy pitch Everyone does it week in week out dont they ..If you havent guessed im being sarcastic as its preety ovious you have never played rugby and ifso never in conditions like those.So please think just a bit before posting such a stupid and condercending post on the state of NH rugby
Posted 23:55 11th February 2012
ruckman says...
England badly need some cutting edge in the centres - but I think they were better than against the Scots - although thats not saying much. Strettle is too fragile.
Posted 23:46 11th February 2012
pierredelot1 says...
Youngs sadly is just not hitting the spot at the moment. Dicksons passing and general bossing of the forwards was far more urgent and created the momentum that England needed to eek out a narrow victory. Likewise Morgan needs to be promoted from the bench, Dowson just doesn't quite have that spark at this level or if he does he hasn't shown it. But boy are they going to have to step up a gear in two weeks time you just can't expect Wales to be handing out Get Out of Jail Cards free. You'd have expected the freezing conditions to be more suited to England than Italy as they were no better last week at Murrayfield. So no excuses there I think. Much amused to hear Jerry Guscotts comments after the game, he started by saying England were brilliant then cut that to good. What area of fantasy land does he live in. About time some of the commentators told it like it is instead of praising average performance and a large portion of luck.
Posted 23:41 11th February 2012
jamesliveinhope says...
@papachinzo, did you just say that if Italy had played better they would have won??
I think that they used their rub-of-the-green all up just before half time.
England still looked unconvincing are still short of about 3 or 4 key players. 2 awkward away wins under their belts though. (Suspect that Barrett will keep his place ahead of Tuilagi when he's fit).
Posted 23:35 11th February 2012
trappa says...
Are these top tier rugby sides?. Perhaps they, along with Scotland could play in the Super comp in order to gain a few skills...
Posted 23:11 11th February 2012