Six Nations: Five takeaways from Italy v England as Marcus Smith continues to shine

Following a 33-0 victory for England over Italy in their Six Nations fixture, here’s our five takeaways from the match at the Stadio Olimpico.

Job done – just

After starting promisingly, England ran out 33-0 winners in Rome, putting their 2022 campaign back on track after a disappointing performance at Murrayfield last week. The game was flowing in parts, frustrating in others, but on balance, England just about walked away in credit. Marcus Smith and Harry Randall orchestrated a couple of early tries, one a sumptuous in and out passing move with Max Malins which saw Smith scoot over for the opener. The Quins fly-half then engineered another later on, with a three man miss pass allowing Elliot Daly room to fly over on the left wing. However, some bizarre thinking by England in the middle period of the game, followed by disruption in shape as their finishers again failed to crackle, left many thinking that Eddie Jones’ men had left a lot of points out there. It was job done – but only just.

Half-back contrast

For 55 minutes, Harry Randall gave England tempo, and lots of it. Swift passing, intelligent sniping and eagerness to run the ball gave a breath of fresh air to the England backline. Randall may want to work on the length of his kicking but that will come in time, as he learns the England systems and builds relationships with his chasers. Italy’s period of pressure in the second half came almost exclusively courtesy of England’s flawed exit strategy. Ben Youngs insisted on booting the ball in clearance to return pressure on his team when it was crystal clear to everyone else watching that the more England kept the ball in hand, the more metres they made. For someone equalling the national cap record it was a poor display and his service, in comparison to Randall’s, was positively glacial. Italy’s Paolo Garbisi and Stephen Varney, so good against France last week, literally failed to turn up by comparison. They were ponderous, clumsy and lacked the variety and intellect they showed last week. Had they maximised the possession Italy managed, the scoreline might have at least shown a mark in their favour, but time and time again, they were suffocated by the English defence.

Set-piece

England’s completion in lineout and scrummage reduced greatly when Jamie George came off for Luke Cowan-Dickie. George’s accuracy of throw gives England so many options from the lineout, especially in extended throws to challenge the offside line, and once he was replaced, the superiority England had enjoyed in that battle disappeared. The Saracen enjoyed a really positive day, scooting over for a couple of tries, one including a 15-metre run in on the right wing. However, Italy’s scrum gave England a lot of issues, as they managed to control the height of their eight all afternoon. Perceived superiority never arrived until Joe Marler managed to get the better of his opposite number on a couple of occasions towards the end. Will Stuart, a man given many chances by Jones, failed to add anything of note and finding a back-up to Kyle Sinckler is now a top priority for the English coaches. But the forwards should be congratulated for their defensive effort – to nil Italy is a considerable achievement and their accuracy in defending the rolling maul together with seven turnovers was a job very well done.

Italy’s work-ons

The Azzurri will be disappointed not to get onto the scoreboard given their possession. They looked rushed on the ball, they struggled to cope with England’s blitz defence and very rarely managed to get around the outside of a wide backline well engineered by Anthony Seibold. But there were a few things to be very pleased about – Michele Lamaro looked to have great handling skills and Monty Ioane again showed that when he gets space, he’s absolutely as lethal as anything in the Six Nations. However, it goes back to the half-backs and their inability to get any form of shape or control into their backline moves. One player needs to fix the defence and make them stop before passing or kicking. The way they played today, static on the gain line, makes their midfield and carriers sitting ducks for England’s well organised rush and frankly, they never looked able of breaking the first wave of defence. Italy will also be concerned about their wide defence; Marcus Smith gave Federico Mori a torrid time in the channels, teasing him and his colleagues and getting the Italian defence to close their shoulders off time and time again.

England’s work-ons

England have a lot to be pleased about; the spine of eight, nine and 10 went as well as could be imagined, with Alex Dombrandt showing how much he’s matured as a player, adding three turnovers to his usual rumbustious carrying. Maro Itoje’s sojourn onto the flank gave him the mobility and extra yard off the side to make a real nuisance of himself and England’s back-row looked, for the first time in a long period, very balanced. He moved up to lock when Ollie Chessum trotted on for his Test debut – and the young Tiger had some lovely touches, winning a lineout with his first touch and looking prominent around the pitch. But the biggest work-on for England is to react to their opposition and to stop becoming internalised in their attack planning. Time and time again they crashed it up close to the line, playing into the Italian strength which is their close quarter forward work. It cried out for the ball to go along the line and to open up the wider holes that were so obviously there. Best of all, England learned a lot from today – they will take comfort from how their new half-backs gelled. They’ll be delighted with some of the width they got on the ball, but most of all, they’ll be excited about the growth of Smith into the crucial 10 shirt at international level.

READ MORE: Six Nations: Marcus Smith stars as England bounce back with win over Italy