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Jamie George insists England enter the middle phase of their Guinness Six Nations in a promising position after overrunning Italy in Rome.
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A conclusive five-try rout at the Stadio Olimpico – in which the Azzurri were nilled for the first time in the fixture – began the rebuilding process following the crushing late defeat by Scotland in round one.
Eddie Jones’ men have climbed to second in the table and with France, the competition’s only unbeaten side, to come on the final weekend, they remain firmly in the title hunt.
Home clashes with Wales and Ireland are up next and George believes the victory over Italy has struck the right balance of nudging England back on track, while identifying areas for improvement.
“Overall it was a good performance. We knew that we were coming up against a much-improved Italy team and we saw that in the way that they brought it to us,” George said.
“There was a lot of good to take out of the game. Like against Scotland, there was a lot of good to take out of that also. We built on the Scotland game.
“It wasn’t a perfect performance by any means but we’re definitely taking steps in the right direction. Our intent to play and some of our attacking stuff was brilliant.
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“There’s lots to work on and lots to be happy with, which is exactly where we want to be leading into this fallow week.
“We’re still really disappointed with last week but at the same time this sets us up nicely. We’ve got three tough games coming up starting with Wales.”
Jamie George helps himself to his second of the game ? #ITAvENG #GuinnessSixNations pic.twitter.com/5UMXOP76bb
— Guinness Men's Six Nations (@SixNationsRugby) February 13, 2022
George showed his carrying power as he helped himself to two tries in Rome but while his second was a bulldozing finish, the score truly belonged to Ellis Genge who floated a long missed pass to his front-row colleague.
It was a highlights reel moment that would have delighted a fly-half and George insists modern props are no longer confined to the less glamorous elements of the game.
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“Ellis is gutted because on England’s Instagram account they’ve posted a picture and it’s an appreciation for me and he’s not getting any of the credit. He deserves it and he’s rattled, he really is!” George said.
“It was an unbelievable bit of skill and not many looseheads in world rugby would be able to do that. It’s great to be able to finish it off.
“It’s an evolution in the game. Everyone’s getting bigger, faster, stronger. But at the same time they’re developing skills like that.
“We’re really lucky to have all our front row forwards who are very comfortable with the ball in hand. To be able to show that on the biggest stage is great.”
England were inspired by their 23-year-old fly-half Marcus Smith, who was named man of the match after running in a try and setting up two more.
“Marcus is special. The way he ran the game was unbelievable. You don’t need me to say how exciting it is to have him for the future of English rugby,” George added.
Comments on RugbyPass
Pls get it into your thick arrogant heads that the final was played by two Southern Hemisphere teams. The best against the best and that Argentina was just unlucky otherwise non of the Northetn Hemisphere teams would have seen the light of day.
124 Go to commentsAs long as New Zealand youth are involved in sport they are passionate for, and are well supported, it’s all good. I love league as well as rugby. NRL clubs have long since scouted the First 15 competitions, the NH and Japan scout super rugby and NPC. It’s a miracle there’s any players left for the all blacks to pick from.
4 Go to commentsI'm a Bok fan, so I don't say this lightly, but he is one of my all time favourite players. I am really going to miss watching him play. Thanks for many great memories. You are a true legend of the game.
3 Go to commentsBest way to deal with all of this is to play another game.
124 Go to commentsIt’s 12-15 games Luke. Ringrose has barely played in 2024 and Henshaw and Keenan have also been out for spells in the same time period. There are always injuries and for younger players to play with the likes of Barrett will be great for them. It’s just looking for negatives where there are none.
5 Go to commentsAndy Goode pushing his own agenda with very dubious considerations on refereeing performances. Luke Pearce speaking a bit of French doesn’t make him a good and adequate referee for the Champions Cup final; his latest refereeing performance in particular was not so great.
4 Go to commentsJordie knows that he has to earn the right to put on the jersey, whatever that jersey might be.
5 Go to commentsThe best outside centre in the world at one point. He will be greatly missed.
3 Go to commentsYip his great for the big moments when needed as a safa really enjoy watching him
4 Go to commentsOne that will start to come up from now on is penalties for back pushes during kick chase scrambles. Very difficult to detect. In Croke Park if you replay the Hendy NH try, you will see Furbank push Porter in the back, who collides with Larmour knocking the ball across into Hendy’s path to dot down. A more significant example was in the RWC QTR final where Arendse pushes Fickou into two other French players for the ball to spill into Arendse’s path for him to gather and run in to score SAs first try. Not cheating if you are not caught and very difficult to spot but with kicking becoming so critical I feel its an area that will referreeed/TMO-ed more.
4 Go to commentsWhat a pathetic little twit Andy Goode is, as if we care what he thinks…..😂
124 Go to commentsFoxy has been a wonderful player for the Scarlets and Wales.
3 Go to commentsNika the Georgian is the best referee in the world at the moment. Luckily we will be spared the shite SH refs and Barnes will hopefully remain retired given how shite and embarrassing he was at the RWC.
4 Go to commentsThis is the most exciting game of the summer imo, as we really won’t know in advance how both teams are going to play. - Will Robertson just reproduce his Crusaders tactics from last year, or will there be a conscious effort to borrow from the Hurricanes and Blues, and from the aspects of the ABs world cup strategy that worked well? - England under Borthwick have put in some good performances playing attacking rugby, and some good performances playing kick-oriented defensive rugby. Will Borthwick try to merge them together into a single all-court game, or will he continue switching between different approaches depending on the strengths and weaknesses of the opposition?
1 Go to commentsI’m predicting an aggregate points difference of no more than +/-10pts across both matches this series.
1 Go to commentsI’m predicting an aggregate points difference of no more than +/-10pts across both matches this series.
9 Go to commentsFinals are always tense affairs for the players so I do not expect this to be a spectacle of running rugby unfortunately.
4 Go to commentsBulls***': Ex-England international calls out Eben Etzebeth… Not to his face but from very far away… after he’d left. Checked to make sure he wasn’t in the building.
124 Go to commentsHopefully this will mean a new Auckland league team to support in the west. Big Warriors fan but it’s very, very stale on that front and I’d like the option of another team if it was to watch league again. League needs to step up BIG time if its to get anywhere, another AK team and something from the capitol or south is a must for the game.
4 Go to commentsGood, deep interview, nice job Frankie!
1 Go to comments