Key events
Penalty! 15 min: Italy 10-3 England (Ford)
Cannone is penalised for going off his feet at a ruck with England on the attack and inside the Italian 22. Ford gets the visitors off the mark with a kick that bounces off a post and in.
England are torn apart there. Ignacio Brex offloads to Niccolò Cannone, who roars down the middle into plenty of space. It looks like a golden chance may have been butchered when his offload to his left goes to ground, but Alessandro Garbisi snaffles it off the deck and has an easy run-in with zero defensive cover in attendance. Lovely stuff from the Azzurri though. Allan clips over the conversion and it’s double-digits for Italy.
Try! 11 min: Italy 10-0 England (Alessandro Garbisi)
A fine score for Italy!
9 min: Very solid scrum from Italy, and then Tommaso Menoncello crunches into contact with a muscular run through the middle. There’s a kick wide looking from Garbisi looking for Ioane on the wing, but he can’t quite gather it. That was dangerous for England though – and Italy are showing plenty in attack.
8 min: Steward claims a high ball well around halfway, but Italy give the England scrum-half Mitchell the hurry-up at the resulting breakdown with some strong counter-rucking. England don’t look particularly joined-up at the moment, but Italy have got a decent grip on the game after the disappointment of that penalty from the kick-off. A scrum to the hosts around halfway, which collapses at the first time of asking and will be reset.
Penalty! 5 min: Italy 3-0 England (Allan)
He was note-perfect off the tee at the World Cup, and the experienced full-back strokes this simple kick through the middle.
4 min: Good stuff from Italy, switching the point of attack after isolating Ford in the No 10 channel in England’s defence. England are penalised for offside and Tommaso Allan can kick for goal.
2 min: A poor start for Italy, Gianmarco Lucchesi coughing up a penalty after Maro Itoje claims the kick-off. Quesada is pictured, gently shaking his head up in the stand at such a careless start. England work through a few attacking phases over halfway, and are looking to move the ball quickly, but Ruzza then wins a penalty for Italy at another ruck, and they have a foothold.
First half kick-off!
Here we go.
The exciting young wing/full-back Ange Capuozzo, of course, is not starting for Italy. He was a late withdrawal with illness.
I fancy that this match will be far from a walkover for England. New Italy, new danger. What do you think? You can email me or message on X
Time for the anthems, starting with a typically plodding blast of always-dreary “God Save the King.” Italy are nailed on to win the battle of the anthems again.
The teams are walking out on to the pitch in Rome, where it’s a very pleasant 18C and sunny. Federico Ruzza was out first for Italy: It’s his 50th cap today.
Michael Aylwin’s team-by-team guide to the Six Nations is right here:
And here are tournament predictions from our writers:
Is Quesada, the Italy coach, nervous or excited? “More nerves. Until the game starts, you have a feeling of how the team prepared. I think our preparation was short, but quite good … there’s a bit of excitement, but I also hope we have a good start, so we can show what we worked for.
“The main thing was to leave behind the last two performances, the big defeats in the World Cup. It’s focusing on the basics again that will allow us to compete for 80 minutes … the exits with the hands and with kicks … we have changed a bit our attacking patterns … but our approach will always be attacking. We cannot compete in terms of power or weight.”
Robert Kitson
For every Six Nations warrior the advice of the great Roman statesman Cicero still rings true. “Live as brave men; and if fortune is adverse, front its blows with brave hearts.” Resilience and character will eventually win more titles than fleeting brilliance, as England’s Ben Earl has had to remind himself at various times. World-class gladiators are not built overnight.
The England head coach, Steve Borthwick, has a chat with ITV: “Preparation has been excellent. It’s an exciting squad. We want to start out on the next step of this team … we’ve got guys who’ve been playing [for England] for a number of years, and guys who are just starting out … I’m looking forward to it.
“The way we’ve started this tournament in recent years hasn’t been what we hoped for, so there’s a need for a different mindset … we need to hit the ground running.”
On the new captain, Jamie George: “Jamie’s been superb. He’s been a leader in this team for a number of years … bringing a new group together, the first day in camp was a bit quiet, but he’s gradually allowed them to bring all their character to the group.”
On ITV, Maggie Alphonsi cites Ben Stokes’ leadership with England’s cricketers, saying that Jamie George wants to bring a smattering of that to the rugby team. Has Maggie seen the score?
It will be fascinating to see how England approach the game. Henry Slade is back at No 13, having forced his way back in with some excellent form for Exeter, alongside the debutant Fraser Dingwall at inside-centre. George Ford at fly-half, Alex Mitchell at scrum-half, and a back three of Freddie Steward, Tommy Freeman and Elliot Daly. They should be able to cause plenty of havoc given the opportunity.
Robert Kitson
One day Italy will beat England at rugby union. Admittedly it has been more than a decade since the Azzurri finished within a score of their opponents but, as Steve Borthwick knows from experience, the possibility can never be entirely discounted. When he captained England at the old Stadio Flaminio in 2008 and 2010, the margins were a stuttering four and five points respectively.
Team news
Breaking team news is that England’s prop Ellis Genge, who was due to start on the bench, has been ruled out with a foot injury. Beno Obano of Bath comes into the squad to replace him.
Italy: Tommaso Allan; Lorenzo Pani, Ignacio Brex, Tommaso Menoncello, Monty Ioane; Paolo Garbisi, Alessandro Garbisi; Lorenzo Cannone, Michele Lamaro (capt.), Sebastian Negri, Federico Ruzza, Niccolò Cannone, Pietro Ceccarelli, Gianmarco Lucchesi, Danilo Fischetti. Replacements: Giacomo Nicotera, Mirco Spagnolo, Giosue Zilocchi, Andrea Zambonin, Edoardo Iachizzi, Manuel Zuliani, Stephen Varney, Lorenzo Pani.
England: Freddie Steward; Tommy Freeman, Henry Slade, Fraser Dingwall, Elliot Daly; George Ford, Alex Mitchell; Joe Marler, Jamie George (capt.), Will Stuart, Maro Itoje, Ollie Chessum, Ethan Roots, Sam Underhill, Ben Earl. Replacements: Theo Dan, Beno Obano, Dan Cole, Alex Coles, Chandler Cunningham-South, Danny Care, Fin Smith, Immanuel Feyi-Waboso.
Preamble
Remember “New England”? Well, they’re back. But New England 2.0 really are quite different, rather than being just an empty soundbite. The long-standing captain Owen Farrell is off to France in the summer having already stepped back from international duty, joining the thrusting young wing Henry Arundell at Racing 92. Red Rose stalwarts such as Courtney Lawes, Ben Youngs and Jonny May are gone for good, retiring from England duty following a third-placed finish at the 2023 Rugby World Cup, with the hooker Jamie George taking the captain’s armband.
Northampton’s Fraser Dingwall and Ethan Roots of Exeter both make their debuts in Rome today, with another Saint, Tommy Freeman, lining up on the wing to claim his fourth cap. There are set to be three debutants off the bench, too, with Chandler Cunningham-South (Harlequins), Fin Smith (Northampton), and Immanuel Feyi-Waboso (Exeter) all among the replacements. Unlike last year the head coach, Steve Borthwick, has had more than month to get his ducks in a row, so this is a big tournament for him after that creditable recent effort over in France.
New Italy, meanwhile, means a first crack at the Six Nations for the Azzurri’s new coach, Gonzalo Quesada. The playing staff has a familiar look to it, but can the former Argentina fly-half inject the cohesion and competitiveness that’s often been so sorely lacking for the traditional wooden-spoon champions?
Kick-off in Rome: 2.15 GMT.
