ENGLAND NAME UNCHANGED TEAM TO PLAY ITALY
This morning, Stuart Lancaster unveiled the same starting line up that was victorious over Scotland to play Italy in Rome on Saturday in England’s second match of this years RBS Six Nations.
This is yet another positive sign and statement from the interim England Head Coach to signal his intention to allow this squad to develop over time. In past regimes, after a performance that was viewed as less than satisfactory, it has been the norm to make wholesale changes and dent the confidence of the individuals that have been dropped in the process.
"We have decided to leave the starting team the same to allow them more time to get together, and we are expecting the bench to come on and make an impact as they did last week," stated Lancester.
TEMPTATION RESISTED
There will have been numerous temptations in the head of the England coach to rush more established players such as Toby Flood and Manu Tuilagi back into the squad, maybe even the starting line up but Lancaster has resisted and told these players that to be part of this revolution, you must be able to give 100% to the cause. Both will play for Leicester Tigers at the weekend with a lot to prove as to where their respective fitness levels are.
England may have battled to retain the Calcutta Cup last week but with Italy being viewed as one of the weaker teams in the championship, here is the chance for the young guns in the squad to take their club form to the International stage with ball in hand. There will be more opportunities for England to go through the phases in Rome and really stamp a pattern of play in the contest. With practitioners such as Charlie Hodgson and Owen Farrell so comfortable on the ball, this is the chance for the class of 2012 to really shine.
ITALY HARD TO BEAT IN ROME
That said, England will need to improve. Italy playing in Rome are a completely different beast to the limping one that quite regularly travels away from their coliseum within the capital. Not only that but Italy have moved their home matches from the intimate Stadio Flaminio to the Stadio Olimpico whilst the former is getting a well needed refurbishment. This brings with it a sold out crowd of 82,000 passionate Italians and an even more intense atmosphere. The running track around the pitch could also take England out of their comfort zone as the closer seating in other domestic and international arenas quite literally take a back seat.
Lancaster is fully aware of the challenge that lies ahead.
"Italy will be a very difficult challenge with nearly 700 caps in their starting line-up and it promises to be an outstanding occasion at the sold-out Stadio Olimpico," he said.
Lancaster has taken the ethos that consistency will play a major part on confidence and as his team arrive with an unbeaten record, a very tough eighty minutes in the Italian capital will go a long way to showing us all where that confidence lies.
Teams:
ENGLAND: Ben Foden; Chris Ashton (both Northampton), Brad Barritt, Owen Farrell, David Strettle; Charlie Hodgson (all Saracens), Ben Youngs(Leicester); Alex Corbisiero (London Irish), Dylan Hartley (Northampton), Dan Cole (Leicester); Mouritz Botha (Saracens) Tom Palmer (Stade Francais); Tom Croft (Leicester), Chris Robshaw (Harlequins), Phil Dowson (Northampton).
Replacements: Rob Webber (Wasps), Matt Stevens (Saracens), Geoff Parling (Leicester), Ben Morgan (Scarlets), Lee Dickson (Northampton), Jordan Turner-Hall, Mike Brown (both Harlequins).
ITALY: Andrea Masi (Aironi Rugby); Giovanbattista Venditti (Aironi Rugby), Tommaso Benvenuti (Benetton Treviso), Gonzalo CANALE (Clermont-Auvergne), Luke MCLEAN (Benetton Treviso); Kristopher BURTON (Benetton Treviso), Edoardo GORI (Benetton Treviso); Andrea LO CICERO (Racing-Metro Paris), Leonardo GHIRALDINI (Benetton Treviso), Martin CASTROGIOVANNI (Leicester Tigers); Quintin GELDENHUYS (Aironi Rugby), Marco BORTOLAMI (Aironi Rugby); Alessandro ZANNI (Benetton Treviso), Robert BARBIERI (Benetton Treviso), Sergio PARISSE (Stade Français).
Replacements: Tommaso D'APICE (Aironi Rugby), Lorenzo CITTADINI (Benetton Treviso), Antonio PAVANELLO (Benetton Treviso), Mauro BERGAMASCO (Aironi Rugby), Fabio SEMENZATO (Benetton Treviso), Tobias BOTES (Benetton Treviso), Luca MORISI (BancaMonteParma Crociati)
Andrew Daniel - Whilst growing up and until this day, my life has always revolved around the world of sport and Rugby in particular. As both a player and ...
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