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Well well well, never thought the English supporting the French would’ve worked out so well. With the result last night in Dublin, has England’s mind set going in to this game changed?
Of course, the team is always set out to win, but England’s tactics have been somewhat questionable over the last few rounds, or so we thought.
Speaking on BBC’s Rugby Daily, Jamie George did peel back the curtain on how disappointed Steve Borthwick was with England’s lack of running threat against Scotland last time out at Twickenham. Pointing out times they should’ve ran it from the back, or 3 and 4 v 2’s that Slade decided to put the ball on his foot instead of going for the try.
Sure they came out with the W, but with France’s win last night, the Championship is wide open with a win against Italy leaving England, the French and Ireland all with 3 wins.
France however do have a casual points difference of +106 with Ireland on +13 and England, a ridiculous -3 after 3 games. But hey, just a 50 point win this week and next against the Welsh and England take it right?
Well before the English get too ahead of themselves, Italy have switched up their team ever so slightly.
Italy Starting XV (1-15) Danilo Fischetti, Giacomo Nicotera, Marco Riccioni, Niccolo Cannone, Federico Ruzza, Sebastian Negri, Michele Lamaro, Ross Vintcent, Stephen Varney, Paolo Garbisi, Matt Gallagher, Tommaso Menoncello, Nacho Brex, Monty Ioane, Ange Capuozzo
Italy Replacements (16-23) Gianmarco Lucchesi, Mirco Spagnolo, Simone Ferrari, Riccardo Favretto, Manuel Zuliani, Lorenzo Cannone, Martin Page-Relo, Tommaso Allan
Knowing England have been in arm wrestles for 60 mins of most games since the last Six Nations, Italy look to have loaded the bench to finish the game as strong as possible. Allan has been slotting kicks for fun whilst Cannone has been one of the best ball carriers in the championship.
There’s also a familiar feel to the starting team with Riccioni (Saracens), Vintcent (Exeter), Varney (former Gloucester) and Gallagher (former Bath) all used to facing many of this English outfit.
England Starting XV (1-15) Ellis Genge, Jamie George, Will Stuart, Maro Itoje, Ollie Chessum, Tom Curry, Ben Earl, Tom Willis, Alex Mitchell, Fin Smith, Ollie Sleightholme, Fraser Dingwall, Ollie Lawrence, Tommy Freeman, Elliot Daly
England Replacements (16-23) Luke Cowan-Dickie, Fin Baxter, Joe Heyes, Ted Hill, Chandler Cunningham-South, Ben Curry, Jack van Poortvliet, Marcus Smith
But I must say, the thought of JVP and Marcus Smith coming off the bench is something we should all be looking forward to seeing. Dingwall in for Slade does offer something a little different in the midfield and as much as old boy Daly has his critics, his ball playing ability and way he can jump in as second receiver will hopefully see England unlock the likes off Sleightholme and Freeman out wide.
Predictions, I don’t see England having it all their own way, but I do think come the final whistle, England will jump Ireland into second in the standings.
| # | Team | PL | W | L | D | PD | BP | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  France | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 106 | 4 | 16 |
| 2 |  Ireland | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 2 | 14 |
| 3 |  Scotland | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 11 |
| 4 |  England | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | -3 | 2 | 10 |
| 5 |  Italy | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | -54 | 0 | 04 |
| 6 |  Wales | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | -65 | 3 | 03 |
