Here it is, the final weekend of
the RBS 6 Nations, it all comes down to 240 minutes of rugby to decide which
team will take home the Championship and whilst a Grand Slam is out of the
question for any side there is still an intriguing level of uncertainly as to
which team will end the tournament in first place.
During the past week there has
been a lot of debate regarding the staggered kick off times and whilst some find
it frustrating and unfair for certain teams looking at it from a viewer perspective it does make for a cracking afternoon of
rugby. England have the honour of starting
this three match RBS 6 Nations' marathon when they take on Jacques Brunel’s men at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.
Over the past month we have
watched Stuart Lancaster’s squad mature, as one individual aptly put it we have not
only seen them come of age, but we have seen them pack their bags and move out
of home. Pleasingly Stuart has not tinkered with the squad;
having listened to him first hand at the recent press conferences, it was clear that he was never
going to shake things up for this fixture. There is only one personnel change and at this point in time I'm sure that you are all well aware of the fact that Manu Tuilagi is back. Now, let’s be very clear on this, Manu is not there simply due to
his reputation, he is there on merit; Graham Rowntree stated during the week
that Manu has ‘been exceptional’ since coming into camp and that his
performance in training means that he absolutely cannot be ignored. Manu is the ultimate impact
player, imagine having to deal with him after 50 or 60 minutes when you are feeling a little tired and he is fresh as a daisy!!
The Italian’s have never beaten
England, and once again they find themselves running away from the Wooden
Spoon. Do they deserve to be in that position?? Based on their performances alone probably not, they are building and playing more expansive rugby, however it just goes to
show that a strong performance counts for nothing unless you end up on the
correct side of the score sheet. The return of Sergio Parisse will be critical, he is the ultimate leader, he is a world
class Number 8 and the heartbeat of the Italian squad. Parisse instils
confidence into his squad, they looked more assured with him and his presence
in Rome on Saturday will be vital. Elsewhere Luke McLean
needs to continue to have the tournament of his life to spark some back line excitement
and to put it simply the men in blue collectively must have the game of their tournament.
England, well they need to focus, Italy is a challenging place to go and play rugby; England's last 3 visits to Rome have all ended victorious however each by only 5 points or less. In terms of this year's 2014 RBS 6 Nations Championship points will ultimately mean prizes however it is critical that England concentrate on what is within their control and that is executing their own game plan for 80 minutes against a proud Italian side. At this point in the Championship I'm not going to analyse or look at individuals, we all know what our England players can do instead the spotlight should be on their collective output. This squad must build on their last match, they must deliver a performance that is world class and they must show that no matter where they play the result will still be the same; a dominant England win.
England, well they need to focus, Italy is a challenging place to go and play rugby; England's last 3 visits to Rome have all ended victorious however each by only 5 points or less. In terms of this year's 2014 RBS 6 Nations Championship points will ultimately mean prizes however it is critical that England concentrate on what is within their control and that is executing their own game plan for 80 minutes against a proud Italian side. At this point in the Championship I'm not going to analyse or look at individuals, we all know what our England players can do instead the spotlight should be on their collective output. This squad must build on their last match, they must deliver a performance that is world class and they must show that no matter where they play the result will still be the same; a dominant England win.
