There is no individual trophy granted to the winner of the England party versus Italia every year in the six nations, which is really good, because he would never have changed hands.
Fifteen days ago, after France hit Azzurri 73-24 in Rome, the most complicated task of victorious captain Antoine Dupont of a unilateral occasion meant leading the giant, ugly and difficult trophy to handle Giuseppe Garibaldi to his teammates for a silenced celebration. It is certainly not the prize that the most French yearn for, but at least they had something to show to avoid another discomfort, after a draw 13-13 in Lille last year.
Despite the recent exploitation, what exists among those neighboring countries is a rivalry in good faith, so “two groups participate in a lasting and competitive relationship.” To date, there has been no such relationship between England and Italy, not to the extent that a sense of danger has translated into a real reversal of the family hierarchy.
This afternoon on Twickenham, the expectation between the local crowd will be that non -rivalry will continue. In terms of results, it is the only championship accessory in this category. The 100 percent victorious rate of England is the only one held on one side against any other marquee test event in Europe. What is equivalent is a quarter of a century of unidirectional traffic.
The Italians have claimed several other significant scalp. They have defeated each of France, Ireland, Wales, Scotland several times and, far from the six nations, have also managed to reduce the colors of Australia and South Africa. But, together with the All Blacks, England are the opponents who have never succumbed to them. In the context of the championship, it has been a round number defeat so far: he played 25, England wins 25.
England players on Twickenham on Twickenham on the eve of Sunday's clash with Italy
England's hosts will be great favorites to overcome Italy and are expected to win beautifully
What that means is that the pressure and expectation are directly on the side of Steve Borthwick on Sunday and that could be an uncomfortable burden. Dangers are not difficult to detect. They go to a banana skin accessory with a reorganized and weak praise alignment that sound in their ears after the narrow victory over Scotland. The condemnation of its negative tactics to recover the Calcuta Cup by a point has led to a circle of English cars.
That is always his favorite mentality in the camp. The ViceCapitán, Ellis Genge, was balanced in York on critics, including former players who were “out of contact”, which highlighted the mood of the challenge. They will have to take advantage of that, because Italy has a lot of fuel in the motivation tank.
Gonzalo Quesada's men will be injured and ashamed after granting 73 points at home. It was a wild test and, without a doubt, the investigation has been deeply unpleasant. If a team was ever going to be in reaction mode, this is all. Captain Michele Lamaro and her colleagues will have been uploading the walls all week, desperate to reach England, as a first step towards redemption.
They will not be intimidated on Twickenham and, frankly, that's not surprising. First, last year's game in Rome went to the cable before England snatch a 27-24 victory, which was the closest that this 'rivalry' has come to give a shock.
Italy will have seen how Scotland succeeded against England and believes that they have firepower to inflict similar damage. They are armed with possibly the best central association in the competition: Tommaso Menoncello and Ignacio Brex, the double act of Benetton that can bring power and skill, a threat of career, pedigree and defensive influence.
Thoughts and prayers with Fraser Dingwall and Ollie Lawrence while trying to contain those two. Similarly, England's defense will have to close visiting Ange Capuzzo in his path, or the Toulouse steering wheel could havoc.
Steve Borthwick's team has won two games from the six nations by a single point after losing to Ireland
Italy has never defeated England, who led 1,224-380 together after its first 31 meetings
Borthwick should expect your decision to build a background around a club, Northampton, to have the desired effect by making England fluid and fast. It is likely that this is the game when they seek to play with a daring intention, before returning to their territorial and security shells for the trip to Cardiff to face Wales on Saturday next weekend.
There is also the small issue of a Marcus Smith driven by anguish over low heat in the bank and prepared to make a point when and where it is deployed, most likely after the break. By the time the creator of Harlequins games enters the fray, England will hope to be in command and that could allow them to resurrect the lost habit of dominating the marker emphatically. Borthwick's men have to show that they can put their feet on their throat and keep them there.
To do that, they need control in advance and the resumption of their fine work in this campaign. The return of Jamie George to the initial XV will improve that process, and Ellis Genge and Will Stuart can further improve their cases of lions if eclipsan another lumpy package in the Scrum. England will also be sure that Ben Earl and both Curries, Tom and Ben, can lead another breakdown of breakdown and avoid the whit of the slow ball that hindered the attack efforts against Scotland.
They have won ugly; Now England needs to win with a flowering, bite its critics strongly. If 26 of 26 can arrive and show some creativity and cohesion in the process, the so -called 'exterior noise' will soon fader. But that is a great yes.