Italy hosted England in Rome today, in their Six Nations match of the series. This is the match thread for discussion of the game.
Teams:
England: 15 Delon Armitage (London Irish) , 14 Mark Cueto (Sale Sharks) , 13 Mathew Tait (Sale Sharks) , 12 Riki Flutey (CA Brive) , 11 Ugo Monye (Harlequins) , 10 Jonny Wilkinson (Toulon) , 9 Danny Care (Harlequins) , 1 Tim Payne (London Wasps) , 2 Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints) , 3 Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers) , 4 Simon Shaw (London Wasps) , 5 Steve Borthwick (Saracens, Captain) , 6 James Haskell (Stade Francais) , 7 Lewis Moody (Leicester Tigers) , 8 Nick Easter (Harlequins).
Italy: 15-Luke McLean, 14-Andrea Masi, 13-Gonzalo Canale, 12-Gonzalo Garcia, 11-Mirco Bergamasco, 10-Craig Gower, 9-Tito Tebaldi, 8-Alessandro Zanni, 7-Mauro Bergamasco, 6-Josh Sole, 5- Marco Bortolami, 4-Quintin Geldenhuys, 3-Martin Castrogiovanni, 2-Leonardo Ghiraldini (c) 1-Salvatore Perugini.
Subs: 16-Fabio Ongaro, 17-Matias Aguero, 18-Valerio Bernabo, 19-Paul Derbyshire, 20-Pablo Canavosio, 21-Riccardo Bocchino, 22-Kaine Robertson.
3 / 3 after 20 minutes…..
Sien K9 is ingelog.
Long time…
I see the game is close at 11-8.
64 It’s Bergamasco, not Gower… but he’s nailed it! PENALTY ITALY, 14-9!
66 McLean sells Monye the cheekiest of summies and breaks, Masi in support, and the crowd is finding voice here! Gower kicks, a nasty bounce, but Cueto does brilliantly to get away… and wins a penalty.
66
After a deep kick into England territory, Cueto looked set to be swallowed up by the Italian chasers but the Sale wing didn’t panic, gathering the bouncing ball before streaking past four players. Excellent work from Cueto.
Italie voor?
66
After a deep kick into England territory, Cueto looked set to be swallowed up by the Italian chasers but the Sale wing didn’t panic, gathering the bouncing ball before streaking past
68 Another dire exchange of kicks… this game has alternated between action-packed and dull as ditchwater… here’s some action though, as Moody takes out McLean in the air and there’s a reaction from the Italians… the fans are furious there’s no yellow-card! But Gower puts the penalty into England’s 22… snce Castrogiovanni was yellow-carded, Italy have been on fire and England have looked very ragged. He’s back now, Italy in a good position… this is nicely-balanced! players. Excellent work from Cueto.
69
Castrogiovanni ambles back on to the field and Italy are back to 15. Things are about to get really interesting now because the Italians are really relishing the task at hand.
70 Clever handling by Canale and Castrogiovanni down the right, really good stuff, out left now, Masi on the burst! So nealy through… a penalty to Italy! Bergamasco can narrow the gap to two… England are hanging on a bit here!
71 12 – 14
More English indiscipline at the breakdown and Bergamasco draws Italy to within a single score. What a finish in prospect in Rome.
Hoeveel tyd is oor ?
71 Goose bumps here for that cheer as Bergamasco slots it! PENALTY ITALY! Is this something special about to happen? 14-12!
And Wilko shows again why he is true class..
74 12 – 17
England manage to stem the flow of Italian pressure, taking the ball through a few phases in Italian opportunity before setting up Wilkinson for a sweetly-struck drop goal. A very, very timely score from the No.10.
74 Five phases from England’s forwards, two from the backs, out to the middle, Wilkinson on the right peg… DROP GOAL ENGLAND! 17-12 – can Italy find that try?
75 Canavosio nearly through! He ofloads… ooohhhh, if that had gone to hand! Instead, an England finger tipped it forward, so it’s Italy’s scrum!
77
Italy try to spread the play but without ever really looking penetrative and after what looked like a forward pass, they eventually knock on. Scrum England.
78 Castrogiovanni pinged for a late tackle… he wanted it just a little too much today, he’s given away a lot of penalties. Wilkinson winds down the clock with a kick to touch… England will take a line-out, move about five phases and bang it to touch…
79
England have really taken the sting out of this game and Italy look set to come up short once more.
80
Italy try to run it from deep. McLean chips it forward but Monye is underneath it and England are quickly support. The ball comes out on the English side and it’s kicked into touch to bring an end to a game what has provided Martin Johnson with more questions than answers.
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