Sarah Rendell was on the scene for us at Franklin’s Gardens, and here is her match report:
Well done England and well done Italy, too. That’s the lot from me – bye!
Four-try Abby Dow was voted as player of the match via England Women’s Twitter, it appears, but Sarah Bern took the award.
What a day @abbydowberg is having 🚀
— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) April 2, 2023
Try number four for the full-back 👊#ENGvITA | #TikTokW6N | #RedRoses | @BBCTwo pic.twitter.com/a7Ttplr0qV
𝗙𝗨𝗟𝗟-𝗧𝗜𝗠𝗘
— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) April 2, 2023
A 12-try victory for the #RedRoses 🙌#TikTokW6N pic.twitter.com/K5JJJvAMVI
And over in men’s rugby, what will the All Blacks look like under the new coach, Scott Robertson?
If you missed anything yesterday:
We’ll have a match report coming up, but in the meantime:
Sarah Bern speaks and is asked by Sonja McLaughlan about her ball carrying: “We’ve lost a few key players … but I love ball carrying. I really enjoy it … hopefully I can play a few more games there [getting in wide areas].
“In the World Cup we were very maul-focused. But we want to play some exciting, attacking rugby. We want to get the crowd on their feet, and I think we did that today.”
Lastly Bern is asked about the meeting against Wales, in 13 days’ time: “Really good friends with a lot of them,” she says. “They have a lot more structure this season … we need to make sure our set-piece is on point.”
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Italy did everything they could, but that was a mismatch, especially in the second half, when the attritional nature of England’s power game took its toll on Italian bodies.
England’s attacking fluency was impressive, mind you. A lot of silky attacking moves.
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Full-time! England 68-5 Italy
England go top of the Six Nations table with two bonus points win from two, and a better points difference than Wales. And next up? Wales at Cardiff Arms Park on 15 April.
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Try! 78 min: England 68-5 Italy (Marlie Packer)
Lineout. Driving maul. Try No 12. Two for the captain, Packer.
Sing snatches at a more straightforward conversion, and pulls it left.
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76 min: I thought we might see plenty of driving mauls from England today. But it’s largely been more expansive stuff – testament to the decent conditions and the very good pitch. Not to mention their ability, and the strong work of the coaching team. It’s been windy for the kickers but running rugby has largely been the order of the day.
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Try! 71 min: England 63-5 Italy (Dow)
That’s four for Dow. This final quarter was always going to be painful for Italy. They are knackered, but have given everything. And England are in no mood to take their collective foot off the gas. Conversion missed, but another tough one.
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Try! 68 min: England 58-5 Italy (Marlie Packer)
Clean lineout ball, and the Yeovil-born captain, Marlie Packer, powers over the line.
Sing converts – Sara Orchard tells us she was born on a farm in Devon, and is studying to be a vet. Good knowledge.
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67 min: Italy have effectively been reduced to rubble by England’s combination of forward power and crisp passing. Not to mention the running and kicking game …
It’s lovely stuff from England but you can’t help thinking, at the same time, that they should be playing this tournament as world champions.
65 min: Clifford and Crake on for England. Carson and Bern off. And lastly, Heard off, for McKenna.
For Italy: Giordano goes off for Locatelli and Stecca on for Maris.
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Try! 63 min: England 51-5 Italy (Breach)
Breach’s turn now on the right wing. Space opens up outside Minuzzi. The Italy full-back does brilliantly to try and keep her out … but it’s no use. A hat-trick for Breach, too, and nine tries for England.
Sing can’t convert, but it’s another good effort.
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61 min: Wyrwas, Beckett, Davies, Robinson come on for England. Kabeya, Lucy Packer, O’Donnell and Cokayne are taken off with the match well won.
60 min: Middleton will surely empty his bench imminently.
59 min: Capomaggi, Fedrighi and Seye are on the field for Italy now. Barattin, Duca and Gai are off.
A little earlier, Stevanin came on for Madia for Italy.
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Try! 56 min: England 46-5 Italy (Dow)
Italy lose it in contact, perhaps the rip coming from Bern. Dow is released down the left again, cuts inside, and that is a hat-trick for the Harlequins wing.
Sing goes close with another tough kick, but draws this one slightly too far left with a right-footed shot, wide out on the left wing.
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Try! 52 min: England 41-5 Italy (Dow)
Breach bursts down the right. She tries to offload inside, but the ball bounces loose. No matter: England keep the attack going, and Dow is over on the left, making use of a mismatch against a forward and powering to the line from outside the 22.
That time it was a huge carry from Cath O’Donnell that earned the right to go wide from England. The English pack has done so much damage with their carrying.
The 22-year-old Sing, who has just come on, belts over a brilliant conversion from out on the touchline.
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49 min: MacDonald, who has been excellent today and scored two fine tries before half-time, hobbles off with what looks like an ankle injury. Or perhaps a knee. She applauds the crowd. Emma Sing comes on for England.
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48 min: “They’re in our way quite a lot, when we want to play the ball,” says the England captain, Marlie Packer, to the referee Kat Roche.
MacDonald of England, unfortunately, has gone down with an injury sustained during an Italian attack. She is needing fairly lengthy treatment … but she is up on her feet now, which is good news.
48 min: Italy have spent 27 seconds in the England 22 in the match so far.
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48 min: Simon Middleton, by the way, gave his half-time interview while clutching a takeaway coffee. Had it been a beer, that would just have been plain disrespectful.
Try! 45 min: England 34-5 Italy (Heard)
“Impressive continuity,” as Moore points out on commentary. And Heard punches a hole through the middle, and flops down under the posts. Lagi Tuima cracks the conversion over, and she is one out of one. An easier kick than those Aitchison missed.
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45 min: The try, indeed, is disallowed for a knock-on. Still, it was a lovely move from England. And it was symptomatic of their forward pack’s power, that is allowing the backs so much time to do their stuff. Aitchison may not have been flawless off the tee but her tactical kicking from hand has been top-class.
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44 min: Fantastic from England. Aitchison has time, from the scrum, to float a wonderful cross-kick to MacDonald, who is in space on England’s left wing. The wing kicks ahead, with a grubber, and wins the race to touch it down … and it’s a TMO check. Does she get it down? I don’t think so …
43 min: Michela Sillari embarks on a powerful run down the middle for Italy. But a subsequent knock-on leads to an England scrum.
42 min: Aitchison, who has been excellent, sends a stunning touch-finder down the line and deep into Azzurri territory, after the Italians miss touch with a penalty.
Second half kick-off!
Here we go.
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Half-time! England 27-5 Italy
England have made 639 attacking metres, to Italy’s 181. Italy have made 100 tackles, England 44. It’s game over, barring miracles.
Half-time reading:
Try! 38 min: England 27-5 Italy (Breach)
The No 8 Aldcroft yet again is to the fore for England with another punishing carry as the hosts run back a poor Italian kick. She has been player of the match for me so far.
Anyway, Dow sets up Breach, who dives over despite a brave attempt to keep her out on the line. Conversion missed.
38 min: England continue to enjoy the lion’s share of possession. Italy continue to tackle with determination, and they’re putting a bit more pressure on those breakdowns now too.
35 min: Aitchison has kicked one out of four off the tee, but the ones she’s missed have not been easy. She also gets credit for that accurate cross kick that set up the second try.
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Try! 32 min: England 22-5 Italy (MacDonald)
That’s the bonus point. Again it’s a beefy carry by Aldcroft that gets England over the gain line. England make the passing look easy, again, and Sarah Bern then tees up MacDonald with a beautiful pass off her right hand in the Italy 22, on the England left. MacDonald sprints over for her second try. England have the bonus point. Any jeopardy for England is gone now, and it’s just a matter of how many points they score. That is no disrespect to Italy, who are competing as well as they can, and have defended well for the most part. But England’s attacking machine is just too well-oiled.
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30 min: Moore, on commentary, says he’d be happy if he was the Italian coach, in view of the way they are competing. And it’s true, they are “fronting up” very well, to use one of the great rugby cliches, playing with passion and no little precision. But can they convert fronting up into points?
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28 min: Disallowed try for England! England 17-5 Italy
England thought they had the bonus point. But they do not. It was blatant obstruction. And the try is disallowed.
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27 min: Lovely hands, and no little strength from England, and Breach is over in the corner. Aldcroft initially makes a big carry. Burns, the debutant, then shows superb hands to flick a pass back to Heard. However, it looked pretty blatantly like some crossing from Cokayne for England, too. Aitchison converts – but now the referee is reviewing it on the screen.
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25 min: Someone’s off for an HIA, says the ref. It’s Rigoni, the Italian inside centre. Beatrice Capomaggi comes on in her stead.
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23 min: Dow runs an Italian box kick back, crashing into contact with a beefy handoff. England move through the phases around the 22. Easier said than done, but Italy need to find a way to put Lucy Packer, the scrum-half, under a bit more pressure at these rucks. She has all the time in the world to grab the recycled the ball and pick an option. Granted it may be a deliberate tactic to keep the defensive line well staffed from Italy, but England are recycling the ball with ease. Another cross kick is attempted but this one doesn’t come off.
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20 min: Great stuff from Italy, punching through the middle of the English defence thanks to a couple of tidy offloads. Again it was Minuzzi, the full-back, getting them moving. England are stretched, but a kick over the top is probably the wrong option, and bounces harmlessly out.
Try! 17 min: England 17-5 Italy (MacDonald)
A massive shunt at an attacking scrum from England puts them on the front foot. The ball is worked through the hands, from left to right, in businesslike fashion. Claudia MacDonald snaffles the ball in midfield and ghosts through a gap with the Italian defence leaving a little to be desired. She has plenty of pace to angle her run to the right corner and touch down. This match will slip away from Italy very quickly unless they can get the next score.
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14 min: Italy are competing really well, and are in this game, but the problem as so often for England’s opponents is that the hosts’ superior conditioning and fitness – plus the amount of time spent defending for Italy – will take its toll.
Try! 9 min: England 12-5 Italy (Dow)
Italy get the lineout wrong, Vecchini over-throwing badly. Following one muscular carry, England don’t miss out when Breach nabs a cross-kick, in tonnes of space on the right wing, and neatly passes inside to Dow, who has a simple enough task to touch down the second try. Conversion missed.
Another smart, well-drilled bit of attacking by England. The laser-guided cross-kick out wide was from the fly-half Aitchison.
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8 min: Minuzzi, the Italy full-back, makes a bright run down the middle. England win it back. Dow gets the ball in her hands and angles a top-class touch-finder to the left wing.
A very impressive response from Italy, that, after conceding early. It was a fearsomely well organised and powerful drive to the line after winning their lineout in the corner.
Try! 5 min: England 7-5 Italy (Tounesi)
Brilliant try for Italy off a driving maul, having kicked for the corner. It’s Tounesi who flops over the line, on her back at first, but she swivels around to touch down. The conversion is missed from a difficult angle. A tremendous maul made that.
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England fluffed that attacking scrum a bit, some messy ball coming as a result of it. But England kept the pill, and worked through a number of phases, mixing up some silky handling with their trademark power. It all came from an Italian knock-on, and they cannot afford that kind of inaccuracy if they are going to stay in this.
Try! 2 min: England 7-0 Italy (Breach)
A worrying precedent for Italy but happy days for England. Aitchison adds two with an excellent kick.
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1 min: England’s line speed and defensive pressure immediately forces an error from the visitors, in their 22. A knock-on brings an attacking scrum for England. Probably the last thing Italy wanted early doors …
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First half kick-off!
Vai!
Brian Moore is the co-commentator alongside Orchard. Here he is in 1991.
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The teams are about to make their way out on the pitch. The BBC commentator, Sara Orchard, tells us there have been big queues to get into the stadium.
A huge cheer for England – Marlie Packer, the captain, welcome each member of the England squad on to the pitch.
The pitch, but the way, is immaculately kept at Franklin’s Gardens, and the weather is decent. We should see some attractive running rugby.
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Simon Middleton, the England head coach, has a chat with the BBC: “We knew Poppy [Cleall] and Amber Reed weren’t going to be fit pretty early in the week, so we were able to fill those positions … it’s a great opportunity to look at a couple more players.
“[Second row] Delaney Burns has come in … she’s had very little experience in the camp [before her debut] … she’s run the lineout with Zoe Aldcroft, she does that for Bristol … she’s pretty seamless in it. It’s been a great experience for her, and great for us working with her.”
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Giovanni Raineri, Italy head coach, speaks:
“Definitely we know we are playing one of the strongest teams in the world … we are ready … England are so good in terms of physicality, in playing with the ball.
“Passion is our blood … every time, we bring it in our rugby. The girls fight with passion for the whole match. It’s part of our rugby.”
Excitingly, over in the Champions Cup last 16, Exeter v Montpellier has gone to extra time, having finished 26-26.
Classic European cliff-hanger finish in Exeter...26-26 at full-time, 10 mins each way extra time to come.
— Robert Kitson (@robkitson) April 2, 2023
Sarah Hunter, newly retired, is on pundit duty with the BBC. She is asked about her post-match celebrations last week: “It wasn’t a really late one,” says Hunter. “I was with friends and family … I just wanted to ensure I enjoyed the night, that it wasn’t one I looked back on and said: ‘What happened?’”
Here we go then. BBC2’s Women’s Six Nations coverage is kicking off, following the conclusion of Arsenal’s 2-1 WSL win against Manchester City.
Brilliant stuff from Séamas O’Reilly:
“Before England played Ireland in the final game of the Six Nations, we asked my son which team he supported. ‘Ireland,’ he said, cheerily, before adding somewhat cryptically ‘because they don’t always do the right thing’. We’re still not sure what that meant, or how fervent his Irish patriotism really is, since he reacted to England’s defeat with huge, racking sobs …
“We can’t ignore the possibility that our sense of Irish identity has left him eager to embrace his Englishness. To be clear, we know he’s both and such queries don’t give us the same urge to place him in an Irish Heritage Re-Education Camp we have witnessed among some of our other Irish friends here.”
Yesterday in the Women’s Six Nations: France blew Ireland away, despite being a player down after 20 minutes, while Wales won in Scotland to make it two wins from two and go top of the table.
The Bristol second row Delaney Burns makes her England debut as the Red Roses look to make it two Six Nations wins out of two against Italy. Simon Middleton has been forced into a number of changes due to injuries, not to mention Hunter’s retirement following the win against Scotland.
Marlie Packer takes over as captain, Zoe Aldcroft will start at No 8, while Cath O’Donnell is named in the second row. Harlequins’ Emily Robinson is on the bench and could make her debut.
Three changes for Italy: Sofia Stefan moves to the wing, with Sara Barattin slotting in at scrum-half. Gaia Maris will pack down with Lucia Gai and Vittoria Vecchini in the front row, Silvia Turani missing out. Sara Tounesi starts at lock, replacing Valeria Fedrighi.
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Teams
England: Dow, Breach, Tuima, Heard, MacDonald, Aitchison, Packer; Carson, Cokayne, Bern, O’Donnell, Burns, Kabeya, Packer (capt.), Aldcroft Replacements: Davies, Crake, Clifford, Beckett, Robinson, Wyrwas, McKenna, Sing
Italy: Minuzzi, Muzzo, Sillari, Rigoni, Stefan, Madia, Barattin; Maris, Vecchini, Gai, Tounesi, Duca, Sgorbini, Franco, Giordano (capt.) Replacements: Stecca, Cassaghi, Seye, Fedrighi, Locatelli, Stevanin, Busato, Capomaggi
Preamble
England kicked off their 2023 Six Nations campaign with a typically dominant 58-7 victory against Scotland, with Sarah Hunter hanging up her boots at the end of a remarkable career.
Italy, England’s opponents this afternoon, were on the wrong side of a much tighter scoreline last weekend, pushing France all the way but succumbing 22-12 in wet and windy conditions in Parma.
Yesterday’s results mean that Wales top the table, with two bonus-point wins on the board, while France are also two from two but have one point fewer, having failed to pick up a try bonus last week.
Simply put, if injury-hampered England are going to stay on terms with their title rivals and stay on course to retain their title, they need to win today. Italy’s spirited effort against France last week suggests that will be not be a straightforward task.
Kick-off: 3pm
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