Italy v England preview: Red Rose to kick themselves to winning start in Six Nations

The time has finally come for the opening weekend of the 2024 Six Nations and the first look at the sides at the beginning of their next Rugby World Cup cycle.

For England, it is about building on a solid World Cup campaign last year that saw them grab the bronze medal only 10 months after Steve Borthwick took over the reins.

It was an impressive feat given the big changes close to the tournament. Borthwick tightened the team up in their set-piece and employed a low-risk game plan which is likely still going to be in play, albeit under a change of leadership as legendary duo Owen Farrell and Courtney Lawes have stepped away from international rugby.

The Azzurri are going through a big change with Kieran Crowley out of the hot seat and Gonzalo Quesada coming in, making for fascinating viewing in front of a packed Stadio Olimpico. The incoming coach is highly rated and has been tipped to be the man to take Italy to a whole new level.

There will be some lingering anxiety in the England camp as they know how Italy could easily be an early banana peel whilst it’ll be interesting to see if the Azzurri maintain their fearless approach honed under Crowley.

Where the game will be won

Borthwick’s tactics hinge on a neat and powerful set-piece coupled with a meticulous kicking game designed to frustrate opponents, force them into errors and/or concede penalties which then translates to points. The loss of Marcus Smith during the week to injury has obvious attacking downsides but with George Ford at pivot the side gets a more pragmatic decision maker which suits Borthwick’s plan.

England will want to control the game through Ford and force Italy to play from deep as much as possible. If the Red Rose win the set-piece and collision battle, and kick well, it’ll be tough for the Azzurri.

It is hard to conclusively say how different Italy will be under their new coach. The line-up indicates they could trade a bit of their fearlessness with pragmatism, highlighted by Tommaso Allan at 15 which gives Italy two solid kicking options with Allan and fly-half Paolo Garbisi. One would think if Italy were to push for a win those two need to have a stormer.

Last time they met

What they said

Robust Italian flanker Sebastian Negri admits his side’s run of results has been hard to take but insists there is light at the end of the tunnel.

“It’s a tough tournament for us but what keeps us going is the belief that we can get the results we want,” he said.

“It’s hard. Judged on results, it is what it is at the end of the day. We have a responsibility in the Six Nations to get a couple of results and to keep on building on what we’ve built over the last 12-18 months.

“We had a few setbacks at the World Cup but we’ve come a long way in the way we play and we’re hoping to have a good, balanced Six Nations.

“We want to keep building because we’re on to something special, we have a really good group of young players who are gaining more and more experience.

“I wouldn’t be playing international rugby if I didn’t believe in the process we are going through.”

In the England camp Borthwick feels that players featuring in the Premiership in the build-up to the tournament will be in their favour.

“The players are match-hardened, so that’s a great benefit. Generally I will try to look at the positive side and I have a group of players that are match hardened. They are ready to go,” he said.

“The other thing is the nature of the Premiership. All of the games are counting, so the leverage of all these games is huge.

“And there have been teams fighting in Europe to get qualification, fighting to find a way to win which, again, is a real positive.

“Everything we’re getting is saying all the clubs are running more than they were 12 months ago, so that’s a real positive.”

Key players

Sebastian Negri is an obvious choice to keep an eye on for the Italians. The flanker is the primary ball carrier in the pack and he will be the one leading the physical charge. His brutal nature provides brilliant balance to the back-row alongside skipper Michele Lamaro and Lorenzo Cannone. They will have to be on their toes against the Red Rose.

It is a great day for the Garbisi family as brothers Paolo and Alessandro start as the half-backs. Paolo is the more seasoned Test player and an extremely talented playmaker who is hands down one of the players who will be critical in taking Italy to a different level. Alessandro has shown great promise and could well push for a more permanent role at nine. Both of them will have to be on their kicking game come Saturday.

Starting debutant duo Ethan Roots and Fraser Dingwall have been rewarded for their sparkling club form. Roots, who was born in New Zealand, will be looking to impose himself in the physical battle and fill the extremely large boots left by Lawes on the blindside flank. Dingwall has been electric this season and has a golden opportunity to put his hand up with the robust Ollie Lawrence out.

England have a new captain in the form of veteran hooker Jamie George who takes over from good friend Farrell. It is a big step for the star who appears to be ready for it; he is vastly experienced and has been in the leadership group for some time. He will be desperate to begin his tenure with a win.

Main head-to-head

The set-piece battle is going to be massive but so will be the way in which the platform is used bringing to light the battle of the 10s.

The older of the Garbisis, Paolo, is quite experienced for his age with 31 caps already at 23 years of age, clearly indicating how highly he is valued in the set-up. He is a fly-half with just about everything, but his ability to combat a relentless England kicking game will be most important this weekend. The playmaker needs to keep his side playing in the right areas, as territory is a vital battle in this one.

Borthwick’s plans hinge heavily on the fly-half’s execution which in some ways suits George Ford a bit more than Smith. Of course, the young Quins star can execute a game plan whilst adding a bit of spark but Ford is one of the most astute minds one will find amongst the sport’s active players. Think back to the masterclass against Argentina in the World Cup pool stages. Ford is a helluva player and could be the difference.

Prediction

The momentum is certainly with England given their promising World Cup campaign and even though there have been changes since then, they still enter as favourites. The flocks of fans flooding into the Stadio Olimpico will have something to say about that. Ultimately Borthwick’s pragmatic approach and the players executing the game plan will just be too good. England by 15.

Previous results

2023: England won 31-14 at Twickenham
2022: England won 33-0 in Rome
2021: England won 41-18 at Twickenham
2020: England won 34-5 in Rome
2019: England won 37-0 in Newcastle
2019: England won 57-14 at Twickenham
2018: England won 46-15 in Rome
2017: England won 36-15 at Twickenham

The teams

Italy: 15 Tommaso Allan, 14 Lorenzo Pani, 13 Juan Ignacio Brex, 12 Tommaso Menoncello, 11 Monty Ioane, 10 Paolo Garbisi, 9 Alessandro Garbisi, 8 Lorenzo Cannone, 7 Michele Lamaro (c), 6 Sebastian Negri, 5 Federico Ruzza, 4 Niccolò Cannone, 3 Pietro Ceccarelli, 2 Gianmarco Lucchesi, 1 Danilo Fischetti
Replacements: 16 Giacomo Nicotera, 17 Mirco Spagnolo, 18 Giosuè Zilocchi, 19 Andrea Zambonin, 20 Alessandro Izekor, 21 Manuel Zuliani, 22 Stephen Varney, 23 Federico Mori

England: 15 Freddie Steward, 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Fraser Dingwall, 11 Elliot Daly, 10 George Ford, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Ben Earl, 7 Sam Underhill, 6 Ethan Roots, 5 Ollie Chessum, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Will Stuart, 2 Jamie George (c), 1 Joe Marler
Replacements: 16 Theo Dan, 17 Ellis Genge, 18 Dan Cole, 19 Alex Coles, 20 Chandler Cunningham-South, 21 Danny Care, 22 Fin Smith, 23 Immanuel Feyi-Waboso

Date: Saturday, February 3
Venue: Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Kick-off: 15:15 local (14:15 GMT)
Referee: Paul Williams (New Zealand)
Assistant Referees: Nic Berry (Australia), Nika Amashukeli (Georgia)
TMO: Brett Cronan (Australia)

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