England-Italy at the Six Nations 31-14- Corriere.it

England remains taboo for Italrugby, the sacred meadow of Twickenham inviolable for the Azzurri who fly across the Channel in the second round of the Six Nations with a load of hopes and come back with the conviction that at these levels there are no discounts for the latest arrivals . An ugly, dirty and bad England wins (31-14).as was to be expected, puts it down to the physical, the game that does not contemplate the show but only the result, the arrogance of the muscles and kicks as a tactical weapon to send other people’s strategies into a tailspin.

The first half was an onslaught, the blue scrum lives in perpetual trouble, suffers in the closed game, loses the one-on-one confrontation and loses his head when it comes to stemming the doors that the others throw in the middle of the field with ruthless violence. The goals of the Albion whites (4 in the first half, 19-0) are all photocopied: territorial gain, Italy in trouble, Farrell’s foot exploring distant corners of the lawn, lineout, tortoise compacting and a man detach from the wild pile to turn a lot of effort into points.

Italy systematically loses the physical duel, has the possibility of closing from the pitch on 7-0 but chooses to aim for the big target, goes into touch and the home defense solves the problem with aggression. Slow progress in attack, the only one Capuozzo has the x factor which makes him gain meters, but too fast even for his teamsupport is slow to arrive and every time he frees prairies in front of him to raid, the British take him prisoner.

The first half is a pain, territory, possession, advancement are only colored in white, the game is closed, angular, rough beyond the limit (and the New Zealand referee facilitates the dirty game) because England after the flop on their debut against Ireland cannot allow Twickenham to be conquered by everyone. Because at this level, Italy is still considered little more than anyone else.

In the second half the air changes, Italy without its captain Lamaro (crippled by a tackle on the edge of regulation by Itoje) finds the strength to cast doubts on the hosts, the songs of joy from the 82,000 players in the temple fade into a murmur, Italy turns out to be competitive, present at the points of confrontation in the middle of the field, advancing in defense. After 3 minutes of boarding, Riccioni’s strong try arrives at the end of an infinite action (19-7), then again a lot of Italy and many mistakes, up to the one that causes a free-kick try for the English. It could end there instead Fusco has the ability to take advantage of a deadly break from Menoncello which opens the English defense in two and paves the way for the goal for his teammate. Small consolation, the second half ends in favor of the Azzurri (14-12), but a detail that will not go down in history. Perfection will arrive at the Olimpico in two weeks Ireland. Against Wales and France the greens proved to be indigestible to anyone. It is not against them that history can be made.