Official Italy v England thread

[ASMO]

Italy.PNG (8.91 KiB) Viewed 1631 times

Italy Team

15 Tommaso ALLAN (Perpignan, 79 caps)
14 Ange CAPUOZZO (Stade Toulousain, 16 caps)
13 Juan Ignacio BREX (Benetton Rugby, 30 caps)
12 Tommaso MENONCELLO (Benetton Rugby, 12 caps)
11 Monty IOANE (Lione 25 caps)
10 Paolo GARBISI (Montpellier, 31 caps)
9 Alessandro GARBISI (Benetton Rugby, 7 caps)
8 Lorenzo CANNONE (Benetton Rugby, 16 caps)
7 Michele LAMARO (Benetton Rugby, 33 caps) – cap
6 Sebastian NEGRI (Benetton Rugby, 52 caps)
5 Federico RUZZA (Benetton Rugby, 49 caps)
4 Niccolò CANNONE (Benetton Rugby, 36 caps)
3 Pietro CECCARELLI (Perpignan, 31 caps)
2 Gianmarco LUCCHESI (Benetton Rugby, 17 caps)
1 Danilo FISCHETTI (Zebre Parma, 36 caps)
A disposizione
16 Giacomo NICOTERA (Benetton Rugby, 18 caps)
17 Mirco SPAGNOLO (Benetton Rugby, esordiente)
18 Giosuè ZILOCCHI (Benetton Rugby, 16 caps)
19 Andrea ZAMBONIN (Zebre Parma, 3 caps)
20 Edoardo IACHIZZI (Benetton Rugby, 6 caps)
21 Manuel ZULIANI (Benetton Rugby, 17 caps)
22 Stephen VARNEY (Gloucester, 24 caps)
23 Lorenzo PANI (Zebre Parma, 5 caps)

[PCPhil]

I'm really looking forward to this one.


A lot.

[sefton]

Our best chance for a win.

[Margin__Walker]

Sounds like Marcus S is f*cked.

[petej]

Sounds like Marcus S is f*cked.

Ffs though would be excited to see finn Smith start.

[Hal Jordan]

Fucking England, what the fuck do they do to players in training? Someone's always getting completely fucked in what usually seems to be an unnecessarily hard session or weird non rugby out of the box training idea by some twat.

[Ovals]

Fucking England, what the fuck do they do to players in training? Someone's always getting completely fucked in what usually seems to be an unnecessarily hard session or weird non rugby out of the box training idea by some twat.

Evidently he was just jogging at the time !!

[Chilli2]

Fucking England, what the fuck do they do to players in training? Someone's always getting completely fucked in what usually seems to be an unnecessarily hard session or weird non rugby out of the box training idea by some twat.

Evidently he was just jogging at the time !!

Even more proof that exercise is bad for you.

[Paddington Bear]

Intrigued by what sort of Italy side we see this tournament - this could be anything from a nightmare to a cakewalk.

[Hal Jordan]

Fucking England, what the fuck do they do to players in training? Someone's always getting completely fucked in what usually seems to be an unnecessarily hard session or weird non rugby out of the box training idea by some twat.

Evidently he was just jogging at the time !!

Where? The turf at the Metlife Stadium?

[sturginho]

Intrigued by what sort of Italy side we see this tournament - this could be anything from a nightmare to a cakewalk.

I doubt it will be a cakewalk, England aren't THAT bad

[SaintK]

Intrigued by what sort of Italy side we see this tournament - this could be anything from a nightmare to a cakewalk.

I doubt it will be a cakewalk, England aren't THAT bad

[Raggs]

Intrigued by what sort of Italy side we see this tournament - this could be anything from a nightmare to a cakewalk.

I doubt it will be a cakewalk, England aren't THAT bad

Never underestimate our ability to make good players look awful!

[Ovals]

I'm optimistic about the potential of the England side - but we are notoriously slow starters and this will be a new side with loads of changes from out last outing. It's probably Italy's best chance of beating us - despite their awful World Cup, they have Benneton going really well in the URC and are as strong as they've ever been.

Should be an interesting contest - England should win but expect Italy to very competitive and give them a really tough game.

[sockwithaticket]

Pick as many Saints as possible, particularly in the backline. Lancaster did it with Sarries and Gatland did it with the Ospreys, temporarily building around a successful club side mitigates squad greenness and lack of overall familiarity.

[fishfoodie]

Be good to see what players Italy bring thru from their U20s side, who've been increasingly impressive the last few years !

[sturginho]

Be good to see what players Italy bring thru from their U20s side, who've been increasingly impressive the last few years !

Code: Select all

Piloni
Pietro CECCARELLI (Perpignan, 31 caps)
Danilo FISCHETTI (Zebre Parma, 36 caps)
Matteo NOCERA (Zebre Parma, esordiente)
Luca RIZZOLI (Zebre Parma, esordiente)
Mirco SPAGNOLO (Benetton Rugby, esordiente)
Giosuè ZILOCCHI (Benetton Rugby, 16 caps)

Tallonatori
Gianmarco LUCCHESI (Benetton Rugby, 17 caps)
Marco MANFREDI (Zebre Parma, 3 caps)
Giacomo NICOTERA (Benetton Rugby, 18 caps)

Seconde Linee
Niccolò CANNONE (Benetton Rugby, 36 caps)
Edoardo IACHIZZI (Benetton Rugby, 6 caps)
Federico RUZZA (Benetton Rugby, 49 caps)
Andrea ZAMBONIN (Zebre Parma, 3 caps)

Terze Linee
Lorenzo CANNONE (Benetton Rugby, 16 caps)
Riccardo FAVRETTO (Benetton Rugby, 1 cap)
Alessandro IZEKOR (Benetton Rugby, esordiente)
Michele LAMARO (Benetton Rugby, 33 caps)
Sebastian NEGRI (Benetton Rugby, 52 caps)
Ross VINTCENT (Exeter, esordiente)
Manuel ZULIANI (Benetton Rugby, 17 caps)

Mediani di Mischia
Alessandro GARBISI (Benetton Rugby, 7 caps)
Martin PAGE-RELO (Lione, 4 caps)
Stephen VARNEY (Gloucester, 24 caps)

Mediani di Apertura
Tommaso ALLAN (Perpignan, 79 caps)
Paolo GARBISI (Montpellier, 31 caps)

Centri
Juan Ignacio BREX (Benetton Rugby, 30 caps)
Tommaso MENONCELLO (Benetton Rugby, 12 caps)
Federico MORI (Bayonne, 13 caps)
Marco ZANON (Benetton Rugby, 16 caps)

Ali/Estremi
Pierre BRUNO (Zebre Parma, 15 caps)
Ange CAPUOZZO (Stade Toulousain, 16 caps)
Monty IOANE (Lione, 25 caps)
Simone GESI (Zebre Parma, 1 cap)
Lorenzo PANI (Zebre Parma, 5 caps)

Rizzoli, Spagnolo and Vintcent are the newcomers, plus Izekor, although he never played in the u20s

[PCPhil]

Fucking England, what the fuck do they do to players in training? Someone's always getting completely fucked in what usually seems to be an unnecessarily hard session or weird non rugby out of the box training idea by some twat.

Evidently he was just jogging at the time !!

Where? The turf at the Metlife Stadium?

I hear they had to jump over swinging logs, team building.

[SaintK]

Fucking England, what the fuck do they do to players in training? Someone's always getting completely fucked in what usually seems to be an unnecessarily hard session or weird non rugby out of the box training idea by some twat.

Evidently he was just jogging at the time !!

Definitely out of Saturday's match

Marcus Smith has been ruled out of England’s Six Nations opener against Italy on Saturday, paving the way for namesake Fin to make his debut in Rome. The Harlequins fly-half sustained a calf injury at England’s training camp in Girona and an initial scan has ruled him out of contention for the weekend’s opening round.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/20 ... by-union

[Paddington Bear]

Watching full contact and being reminded that Italy could/should have beaten everyone bar us last 6N…

[Raggs]

Alex Mitchell hasn't trained for a few days and only has Thursday to get himself ready, due to an infected cut on his leg...

So that's quite possibly first choice 9, 10 and 12 all out.

[petej]

Alex Mitchell hasn't trained for a few days and only has Thursday to get himself ready, due to an infected cut on his leg...

So that's quite possibly first choice 9, 10 and 12 all out.

As jvp and quirke are still crocked we have a lack of fit 9s.

[sockwithaticket]

Alex Mitchell hasn't trained for a few days and only has Thursday to get himself ready, due to an infected cut on his leg...

So that's quite possibly first choice 9, 10 and 12 all out.

As jvp and quirke are still crocked we have a lack of fit 9s.

Care and Spencer still, you'd imagine Warr would be next in line.

[Oxbow]

Ben Youngs to come out of retirement and score the Grand Slam-winning try


Warning given, we will not tolerate such heresy on this forum

[sturginho]

Ben Youngs to come out of retirement and score the Grand Slam-winning try

Another 100 caps guaranteed!

[Raggs]

Ben Youngs to come out of retirement and score the Grand Slam-winning try

Another 100 caps guaranteed!

ASMO! This is clearly stepping over a line, please, long ban.

[sturginho]

Don't listen to him Zapp!

[Margin__Walker]

Predicted team from the Mail



They are usually right

[Oxbow]

Not overly thrilled with that.

[Margin__Walker]

What is it about England coaches and blow in Kiwi back rowers. They can't resist it.

[inactionman]

A little bit pleasantly surprised, a big bit sadly disappointed.

I can't see much on twatter now Musk has rubbed all his musk all over it, any idea on the bench?

Would like to see Fin Smith* but would need a likely need a 3-back bench for that - can he cover for anywhere else?

* eta - although I'll never moan too much about an England side containing George Ford, recent form and fitness concerns notwithstanding

[SaintK]

Not overly thrilled with that.

Me neither. Hopefully the bench will be a little more exciting

[sockwithaticket]

What is it about England coaches and blow in Kiwi back rowers. They can't resist it.

Truly baffling. I fail to see what he offers that Pearson doesn't.

[Ovals]

What is it about England coaches and blow in Kiwi back rowers. They can't resist it.

Truly baffling. I fail to see what he offers that Pearson doesn't.

I've watched Chiefs quite a few times this season - never even noticed him playing

[pjm1]

A few thoughts... occasionally constructive and also half-depressed.

We do start slowly and as England have been playing a particular (-ly bad, boring way), so I can sort of see the logic with sticking with a simple gameplan.
But, our teams in Europe have been playing (except Tigers) very differently - more open, expansive and successful!
While international level is normally a different speed etc., I'm not sure that really applies to Italy - I think top level Europe is comparable, tbh.
If we want any sort of decent return from this 6N, we need to build towards a winning game plan over the 5 matches. We have, quite literally, the perfect draw this year, with strictly ascending difficulty. The first game needs to be a preparation for the last two, so what's the right approach to build some foundations?!
Kick-chase is horrible, but it's probably our most effective weapon so far (Chile game excluded). Surprised he hasn't picked Daly and Roebuck as the wingers on that basis.
Ah shit, he really has picked pretty much the worst combos across the park from the squad available, hasn't he?

[inactionman]

What is it about England coaches and blow in Kiwi back rowers. They can't resist it.

Truly baffling. I fail to see what he offers that Pearson doesn't.

I've watched Chiefs quite a few times this season - never even noticed him playing

He wasn't in squad for sarries game, but I've also not noticed him as standout in games earlier this season. Their young 8 has looked pretty promising though.

I have seen some highly impressive displays by Pearson over a couple of seasons now. Particularly eye-catching was his carrying, not just in the loose where he's got real dynamism but also in the tight - which you'd say Earl probably doesn't excel in.

[ASMO]

Dingwall Slade midfield, possibly the worst combination he could have chosen, add in Daly on the wing....this is not a good side compared to what he could have done.

[fishfoodie]

Officials

Italy v England
Referee: Paul Williams (NZ)
ARs: Nic Berry (Aus) & Pierre Brousset (Fra) Nika Amashukeli (Geo)
TMO: Brett Cronan (Aus)

[inactionman]

Daley Slade midfield, possibly the worst combination he could have chosen....this is not a good side compared to what he could have done.

Dingwall Slade, if I'm reading the quoted tweet correctly -or are you taking that from elsewhere?

Daly on wing, because we're lacking any high-quality young tyros out there.

[ASMO]

Daley Slade midfield, possibly the worst combination he could have chosen....this is not a good side compared to what he could have done.

Dingwall Slade, if I'm reading the quoted tweet correctly -or are you taking that from elsewhere?

Daly on wing, because we're lacking any high-quality young tyros out there.

Yep, realised my error....am depressed at this choice if its true.