Italy vs England: Head-to-head Preview Ratings
After the drama of Italy unleashing “The Fox” last season and the general tension surrounding the comments of the two respective coaches in the aftermath and now build-up to this fixture, Italy vs England has more excitement around it this season than it has had for many a year.
The teams for the clash in Rome were announced earlier today and we have rated each player in the respective XVs, on a scale of 1-10.
So, who, man-for-man, comes out on top on paper?
- Matteo Minozzi 6 vs Mike Brown 7
Minozzi is an exciting player but you would expect Brown to have the edge on him in dealing with the aerial contests and making the one-on-one tackles required of full-backs. If the game breaks up and becomes loose, it could play into Minozzi’s hands.
- Tommaso Benvenuti 6.5 vs Anthony Watson 8
Benvenuti is almost this generation’s Andrea Masi, capable of playing multiple positions in the Italian back line. He is not quite the dangerous finisher out wide and threat from deep that Watson is, though.
- Tommaso Boni 6.5 vs Ben Te’o 7
Te’o could quite easily be higher than a seven here, but with the centre having played little rugby of late due to injury, there is a chance he has some early tournament rust to shake off in Rome. If he hits the ground running, this will be a more one-sided contest.
- Tommaso Castello 7.5 vs Owen Farrell 9
As well as Castello has played this season, this is a contest you have to give to Farrell. Farrell has been moving through the gears following a post-Lions series injury and is beginning to come into some excellent form. Castello enjoys the contact, though, so expect to see him run at Ford and Farrell.
- Mattia Bellini 7.5 vs Jonny May 7.5
Not much in this one, with Bellini in good form for Zebre and more than capable of hurting England. May has speed that Bellini doesn’t, but the Italian is very adept at finding space – not always on the wing – and is a good match for the Leicester man.
- Tommaso Allan 7 vs George Ford 8
Carlo Canna has shown good form in the PRO14 and it’s a bit of a surprise he doesn’t start here. If Ford is on song, however, he likely takes this match-up with Allan, who is a solid fly-half, but doesn’t have the same kind of result-defining ability that Ford does.
- Marcello Violi 6.5 vs Ben Youngs 7
We do have Youngs ahead here on the scorecard, but is this somewhere Italy can eek out an advantage? Youngs has had a tough season behind a Leicester pack that have failed to consistently deliver for him. It could be the England pack that gets him back on the front-foot.
- Andrea Lovotti 7 vs Mako Vunipola 8.5
Two props, it’s fair to say, who may not be the most adept scrummagers in their respective national teams, but who deliver in other areas, with their attacking ability and defensive energy. The nod must go to Vunipola here, who is as good as it gets in the loose for a prop.
- Leonardo Ghiraldini 6.5 vs Dylan Hartley 6.5
Two savvy veterans of the game. Set-piece security will be the priority and their leadership will be vital to both sides. Ghiraldini may have the edge in the loose, with Hartley delivering with his lineout throwing.
- Simone Ferrari 6.5 vs Dan Cole 7
Cole is another player to suffer from Leicester’s indifferent season and like Youngs, will be hoping the next two months with England put him back at the top of his game. Ferrari and Cole won’t be going head-to-head with each other and both will have eyes on working an advantage at the scrum against their opposition looseheads.
- Alessandro Zanni 6 vs Joe Launchbury 8
Zanni finally reaching his 100th cap for the Azzurri should be celebrated but he is going to have a tough day going up against a very effective English second row. Launchbury will be key to giving England front-foot ball in the absence of Billy Vunipola and Nathan Hughes.
- Dean Budd 6.5 vs Maro Itoje 9
Similar to Zanni, Budd is a good second row but it’s an area of the Italian team where there is a clear disparity between them and their English counterparts. An early season injury to Itoje has limited the amount of rugby he has played this season and he looks fresh and ready to make a significant contribution over the next two months.
- Sebastian Negri 6.5 vs Courtney Lawes 8
Negri has been flourishing for Benetton and looks as though he can be a big part of the Italian back-row moving forward. He’s going up against a British and Irish Lion in Lawes, though, who seems to have found his niche at Test level now on the blindside.
- Renato Giammarioli 7 vs Chris Robshaw 7.5
Giammarioli is one of the stories of the season in Italian rugby and has played a key role in some of Zebre’s more impressive performances. He is not dissimilar to Robshaw in style, but will deliver more in dynamic physical ability, particularly with ball in hand, where as the Englishman will rely on his stamina and work rate to outlast the Italian.
- Sergio Parisse 8 vs Sam Simmonds 7.5
Parisse may not be the one-man army he used to be, but he’s still extremely valuable all over the park. Simmonds is capable of lighting this game up if England can get on the front-foot but that lack of experience just sees the Italian edge this one.
Totals
Italy – 101.5
England – 115.5
Comments on RugbyPass
We’re building a bridge but can't agree where the river is.
2 Go to commentsfirst no arms shoulder or helmet tackle into his rib cage is going to be so very painful even to watch. go back to RU mate.
1 Go to commentsBulls by 5. Plus another 50.
3 Go to commentsJohan Goosen avatar. Cute. Surely someone at RP knows how to do a google image search?
3 Go to commentsCan’t these games play a little earlier? Asking for a friend.
3 Go to commentsIt’s impressive that we can see huge stadiums with attendance in the 40 000 to 50 000 region. It shows how popular this competition is becoming. What is even more impressive is the massive growth in broadcast viewership. The URC is one of the two best leagues in the World, the other being the Top14.
7 Go to commentsChristie is not Sottish, like the majority of the Scotland team.
2 Go to commentsHold the phone, decline over-rated. Is it a one game, dead cat bounce or the real thing? Has the Penney dropped? Stay tuned.
45 Go to commentsTotally deserved win for the Crusaders Far smarter than the Chiefs who seem to be avoiding the basics when it matters Hotham showed them what was missing and Hannah seems a real find - a tad light but that can be fixed over time
8 Go to commentsGreat insight into the performance culture with Sarries and I predict Christie will be a fixture in the Scotland team now for some time to come. However, he is slightly missing his own point around Scotland “being soft” when he cites physicality examples in defence of that slight. The issue is much closer to the example he referenced around feeling off before a game but being told “it doesn’t matter, you can still play well” by Farrell. Until Scotland can get their psyche in that square, they will carry on folding under extreme pressure…
2 Go to comments> We are having to adapt, evolve and innovate more than when we were in Super Rugby where there was only really one style that everybody had to play to gain the most success. Have = able to? Interesting what that one style might be? I thought SA sides still had bad tours now, or at least bad schedule, months away? Those extra few hours flights have to be a killer though, no surprise to see their sides doing so badly at the start of the season each year. I wouldn’t enjoy that unfairness as a supporter.
7 Go to commentsThe problem for NZ, and Aus, is they ripped up the SR model and lost a massive chunk of revenue that hasn’t been replaced. Don’t forget SA clubs went North because they were left with no choice, Argy unceremoniously binned and Japan cast adrift. Now SR wasn’t perfect, far from it, but they’ve jumped into something without an effective plan, so far, to replace what they’ve lost. The biggest revenue potential now lies in Japan but it won’t be easy or quick to unlock, they are incredibly insular in culture as a nation. In the meantime, there is a serious time bomb sitting under SH rugby and if it happens then the current financial challenges will look like a picnic. IF the Boks follow their provincial teams and head north then it’s revenue meltdown. Not guaranteed to happen but the status quo is a very odd hybrid, with the Boks pointing one way and the clubs pointing the other way. And for as long as that remains then the threat is real.
45 Go to commentsI think Etene has had some good tuition, likely while at the Warriors to be a professional that helped his rugby jump, but he was certainly thrown in the deep end way too early. Should have arguably 20 less SR caps, and therefor a way better record that he does at his age, but his development would have been fast tracked by the need to satiate his signing away from league. Again, credit to him and others that he has done it so well. Easy to fall over under that pressure in the big leagues like that but he kept at it when I myself wasn’t sure he was good enough.
1 Go to commentsAwesome story. I wonder what a bigger American (SA) scene might have mean for Brex.
1 Go to comments“Johnny McNicholl and the Crusaders” save a Penney. Who has been in camp this week and showed them how to play?
8 Go to commentsSo, reports of the Crusaders’ demise / terminal decline are perhaps just - slightly - premature/exaggerated…? 🤔 Will we see a deep-dive into that by the estimable Rugbypass scribes, and maybe one or two mea culpas? Thought not.
8 Go to comments1. The Chiefs are rudderless without DMac, which enhances his AB chances 2. Chiefs pack are powderpuffs. The hard men arent there anymore 3. They had their golden title chance last yr and wont threaten this yr. Gone in second round of playoffs.
8 Go to commentsHonestly, why did you have to publish such a foolish article the day they play us? 😂
45 Go to comments> They are not standalone entities. They are linked to an amateur association which holds the FFR licence that allows the professional side to compete in the league. That’s a great rule. This looks like the chicken or egg professional scenario. How long is it going to be before the club can break even (if that is even a thing in French rugby)? If the locals aren’t into well it would be good to se them drop to amateur level (is it that far?). Hope they can reset from this level and be more practical, there will be a time when they can rebuild (if France has there setup right).
1 Go to commentsWhat about changing the ball? To something heavier and more pointed that bounces unpredictably. Not this almost round football used these days.
35 Go to comments