Italy 5-34 England Guinness Six Nations

 

Italy 5-34 England

So the stage is set for the belated last match of the Six Nations. A fairly sedate scoreline at half time saw England up by 5-10. Following a yellow card for Jonny Hill, then Italy try-scorer Jake Polledri picked up one of his own. As half time approached, there could have and it could be said should have been a penalty try for England.

Whatever Eddie Jones said in the changing room at half time certainly was a massive kick up the arse. The second half kicked off and England scored a try in the first minute. Youngs offering out a sublime dummy pass from the base of a ruck, then going himself to get over the line for the first try of the second half.

Scrum-half Ben Youngs celebrated his 100th England cap in style, picking up Man Of The Match and scoring two tries too. Hooker, Jamie George found time to pop over for a try on his 50th cap too. Tom Curry and Henry Slade both added to the points tally, each running in a try each. Farrell slotting 3 conversions out of 5 possible chances, combined with a penalty added to the scoreline and points difference tally.

There were some good passages of play from England, especially in the second half when they looked more determined and with it. The team talk at half time must have stirred them, and Maro Itoje was prominent in the second period of play.

 

So what does this mean for the France Vs Ireland game?

Both teams still have a chance to win the Six Nations, although France needs a huge upset as they need a bonus point win and a margin greater than 32 points.
Ireland will steal the title with a bonus-point win or if they don’t score four tries but still win by seven points or more.
An ideal scoreline from an English perspective would be France 18 – Ireland 18, but hey we can hope and dream.

I’m going to grab a beer or 2 and watch with anticipation this final game of the series and see if England can capture the title again. I don’t think the All Blacks will be looking over their shoulders just yet at the Northern Hemisphere teams for the next world cup. This reinforced by them hammering Australia, at home in Sydney, today in the Bledisloe Cup. The Australia 5 New Zealand 43 scoreline didn’t speak volumes, it positively shouted from the rooftops. The half time score of 0-26 was certainly a warning as to how potent the All Blacks squad still is.

 

Final Fact.

 

This is the 18th consecutive year that New Zealand won the Bledisloe Cup. Pretty impressive I’m sure you’ll agree.