Win in snowy Rome another good result for England
Wednesday 15 February 2012
Stuart Lancaster's England side made it two wins from two after producing a strong second half performance to overcome a spirited Italian side on Saturday. While there is plenty of work to be done, this young side did show signs of promise. Here are the key things I picked from the game:
Discipline
Under Martin Johnson England were often their own worst enemies, giving away silly penalties (particularly at the breakdown), and this was one of the key factors in their failure at the World Cup. However under Lancaster this group of players seem to have tremendous discipline not just collectively, but also individually.
In two tough away matches against vastly more experienced sides they have conceded 18 penalties, when you compare that to the previous regime Lancaster and his coaches have done a brilliant job. When assessing the victory over Italy the discipline of the side was one of the biggest positives and should not be overlooked, this side has come a long way since the World Cup.
Alex Corbisiero and Dan Cole
These two props are still relatively young in international terms, but they have been superb. Against Scotland they more than held their own, and they backed this up on Saturday. After a shaky start, Corbisiero started to get the better of Martin Castrogiovanni, until the Tigers prop was forced off with a rib injury. The same can be said of Cole who had Andrea Lo Cicero all over the place.
But they also affected the game in the loose with some big carries, particularly Corbisiero. He is a very powerful and dynamic runner and is fast becoming one of the key members of this England side.
Scrum-half
This is the one of the few areas where England need to change personnel. Ben Youngs has lost the sparkle that made him so exciting to watch a year ago. On Saturday he was caught at the back of the ruck far too many times, and on a couple of occasions he didn't even realise the ball had come out the back of the breakdown. His distribution has been slow and his kicking way below par.
As soon as Lee Dickson entered the game in Rome, England seemed to have more urgency about their play. He does the basics very well, his passing is sharp and he plays with tempo. Dickson is a must starter against Wales.
Ben Morgan
The Scarlets number eight was England's best player, and that's saying a lot considering he only played 30 minutes. He made five or six huge carries that got the team over the advantage-line and built some crucial momentum that led to Owen Farrell penalties. Morgan is the real deal, with all the attribute to be a world class player.
Phil Dowson really improved from his nervy debut at Murrayfield. He got involved in the game a lot more and showed flashes of quality. However Morgan is the way forward for Lancaster, but there should still be room for Dowson on the bench.
Creativity
It is impossible to ignore the fact that England's only two tries have come courtesy of Charlie Hodgson's two charge downs. In Rome Lancaster's side enjoyed more possession than they did in Murrayfield in round one, but still failed to create a real try scoring chance. The continuity with ball in hand was much better and they went through the phases with purpose. Three line breaks against Italy tells the whole story, England failed to get their best runners on the ball enough. The outside-backs have hardly seen the ball in 160 minutes of rugby. The likes of Chris Ashton, Ben Foden and David Strettle need to be on the ball as much as possible, to do this the coaches will have to rearrange the back-line. Moving Owen Farrell to fly-half and bring Manu Tuilagi into midfield alongside Brad Barritt is an option, or bring back Toby Flood at 10 to help unleash the back-three.
Another win on the road
After a first win away in Scotland for eight years, England's youngsters overturned a nine point deficit against a side with three times as many caps. Italy are no longer the whipping boys of the Six Nations, as their performances in the last two years have shown. Add the conditions into the mix and it was always going to be a really tough game.
England didn't show any attacking threat for the first 50 minutes, but with their backs to the wall they went up a couple of gears. Chris Robshaw led his side fantastically well and they really kept their composure under huge pressure. Winning two games away in Scotland and Italy is never easy, but England have done it and the impact this has on the teams confidence should not be underestimated.
England have done well in their opening games, but they know the tougher tests are still to come, starting with Wales. But with Courtney Lawes, Tuilagi and Flood all returning to fitness, England have some real attacking weapons to add to their side. The game against Wales will give us a better indication of where this side is at and how far they can go.
