Reported by: William Elvin
Embed from Getty Images16:45, Stadio Olimpico
Match preview:
England are aware of the challenge at hand. They have to secure a bonus point victory against Italy, the wait until later this evening and hope that France can defeat Ireland at an inferior margin than England beat their opponents.
Italy, who have lost their previous 26 matches, will not be optimistic going into todays fixture, all that’s left for them is to avoid a whitewash- it would be their ninth time facing such humiliation.
The pressure will be on England to score at least 4 tries to gain the bonus point which is crucial to their aim of clinching this Six Nations trophy, Italy will be unlikely to test England much having never defeated them competitively in 26 meetings.
If England put in a decisive performance and get the bonus point to take them to 18 points in the table, they will be desperately hoping Ireland lose but not by a significant margin as France could still beat England on Point Difference.
Line ups:
Live Text Commentary:
1: Underway in Rome. England begin with Possession, Matteo Minozzi immedieately disposseing to push England back
2: Penalty to England, after the first scrum of the game, strong start for the England forwards
4: Lot of Pressure from this England side, a deflection almost falls to Tom Curry in the defensive end for Italy but he can’t quite reach it
5: TRY for England. Johnny May dispossess Italy, and works it to the Captain Owen Farrell who squares it to Ben Young on his 100th cap for England scores the try in the centre of the offensive end
6: Conversion for England. Farrell secures the conversion to give England a 7 point lead
10: England retain possesion from a Scrum, work it forward and continue to harass this Italian Defence, Slade having an important role in this first 10 minutes
12: It’s been all the Away side for far, lot of congestion down the right flank, Italy do not look equipped to deal with the strength of this England Side
13: Penalty for England, as stated. Italy are struggling to deal with this offense. Owen Farrell converts the penalty to make it 10 to naught
17: Absolute one way traffic for the moment, Could be an embarrassment for Italy
18: TRY for Italy. Disregard that last post, England dispossesed by Carlo Conna who slips it to Jake Polledri who gets the home side on the board
Embed from Getty Images19: Failed Conversion for Italy, poor kick from Paolo Garbisi too far to the right
20: After that surprising response from Italy the intensity of the game has really increased
22: The Ref has to make a decision here. It will be a Yellow Card for Jonny Hill for illegal contact to the head, he is sent to the sin bin for a head collision
Embed from Getty Images26: Italy look to improve with the man advantage for a remaining 7 minutes
27: Poor catch from Jonathon Joseph, England cannot let this wave of pressure from the home side get to them, they cannot leave without the bonus point
30: Treatment for a bloody Sam Underhill, he looks safe to return to the pitch
32: England look like a shadow of the team that began this team, credit to Italy’s defensive display, really stifled out the Visitors
33: Jonny Hill, returns to the to pitch, perhaps the Lock can reinvigorate England’s form
35: Italy have had a lot of presence in the England Defensive zones, a couple scrums but unable to capitalise on the out of shape visitors
36: SUBSTITUTION FOR ENGLAND
39: It’s all kicking off as the first half is coming to a close, it will be a Yellow Card for Polledri who is sent to the sin bin for 10 minutes
40: Italy almost get on level terms, Shakey defending from George Furbank to prevent an absolute collapse
First Half Ends: Italy 5-10 England. Despite a terrific start from Eddie Jones’ team they have lost most if not all their intensity, Italy have had much more presence since going behind, they are not making it easy for the Away side who need to get three more
Embed from Getty ImagesSecond half resumes: Italy with the ball
41: TRY for England. Ben Young gets his second try for England to ease the pressure. He gets the ball 20 yards out, feints, then skillfully drifts past the Defence to score on the try line
42: Conversion for Italy. Colin Farrell comfortable seals the extra points for England. 5-17
45: England have a little under 35 mins to get too more tries to attain the vital bonus point, Italy look disappointed to be in this position, a win would’ve meant a lot, but they remain eager and prideful
47: Substitution for Italy. looks quite necessary based on the condition of the player exiting the pitch
52: TRY for England. After some confusion from the officials, England get their third try. Jamie George carries the ball over the line from a scrum position, England elated to get within touching distance of this bonus point. It’s the Hooker’s 50th cap for England
53: Conversion for England. Owen Farrell gets his third Conversion for England to extend the scoreline, but now all that matters is this last try. Also a replacement for England
58: A lot of aggression coming out of this Italian Side, they are resilient to make this a tough final game for England
62: Italy return about 20 yards from the Touchline, to their credit they remain determined and eager to make this a contest, Great spirit from the home side
65: We approach the final 15 minutes in the match, England still without that fourth try,
67: Try for England. They’ve done what they came to do. Tom Curry sealing the bonus point for England to consolidate their position in the table on 18 points. Curry deserves that, he’s put in a great performance today.
68: failed Conversion for England
72: Try for England. Italy look done. Henry Slade receives the ball from a scrappy play in the Italian Defence to crush Italy moral.
73: Failed Conversion for England
75: England look content with their performance today. Just look to maintain their lead to make it tough for either team in the fixture later this evening
Full Time: Italy 5- England 34. England complete their challenge to content the title. Now all eyes turn to the final fixture, Ireland Have to Beat France by a margin of to 7 or France win by an outrageous scoreline to Snatch the title from England
