I missed the first 15 minutes of the game because Liz and I were shopping in Covent Garden. This meant that I missed all of the good English play. From the half time replays they seem to have scored two good tries. There was no sign of them being able to score any more in the rest of the game. The second quarter was about 50:50, and Italy bossed the second half. Fortunately for England, the Italians had no penetration either. The one try that they scored came from a horrible Cipriani mistake (Will Greenwood will make Stuart Barnes life insufferable on Rugby Club next week, I suspect). Still, with the score at 19-23 with 5 minutes to play we were set up for another frantic finish. Credit to England for not going to pieces they way they did against Wales.

Having seen Italy play twice, I’m reasonably confident that Wales can beat then. They showed very little penetration in both games. They continue to give away silly penalties. Their lineout is vulnerable. And I got the impression that their back line is sometimes reluctant to go into contact. Time and again I saw them pass too early and allow the incoming England tackler to follow the ball and close down the move.

England, I think, are just about good enough to beat the hapless Scots, but will get cut to pieces by Ireland and France unless they improve their game a lot.