by Are you not entertained? Maybe a little amused before dulling, a sense of knowledge of ennui set in? Little wonder, with a big dollop of emotion as we’ve been here before, is perhaps the best way to sum up England’s performance which saw them score less than 30 points against Italy for the first time once for 11 years, but left you clinging to it. the odd flicker they were able to produce before restricting their enthusiasm and numbing the supporters they want to connect with.
The bar is quite low when it comes to a willingness to pass, to avoid kicking the ball at every opportunity, a performance that is gutsy, challenging and all the other words to describe what should be prerequisites at this level to avoid. But there was something a little different to England in the odd spell here. Which made you look up every now and then.
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It was a strange game in the sense that the competition followed the usual pattern. Italy were fired up in the opening exchanges, the score was close at half-time before England pulled back to a clear lead in the second half. However, the way it turned out was not predictable.
Firstly, the English are traditionally nothing if not solid defensively but they were all at sea in the first half, clearly keen to give their line speed an extra edge only to be caught out for it . A new blitz defense system started to look good when it worked, finding Italy behind the gain, but it is not without its initial problems.
In an attacking sense there was more intent to play than there had been in last year’s Six Nations and the World Cup – the duration of Steve Borthwick’s reign in other words. It wasn’t perfect, not as polished as the Italian’s delightfully introverted attacking approach but it wouldn’t be wrong to expect it at this point. As captain Jamie George said in the build-up, mistakes were inevitable but they didn’t seem to deter England at first.
Tommy Freeman is a special case. After England’s shaky start he set up his team’s first try by coming off the wing, taking a sharp pass from Henry Slade and sending it on to Elliot Daly. Freeman started on the right wing, taking the place of the now-retired Jonny May and his instructions during the World Cup were to stick effectively to chase kicks.
Freeman’s mobile role represents a gear change from England, or as he puts it: “I was given license to go and do my thing outside of our basic plan.”
He was a little sideways at times and there wasn’t much in the way of ball carrying apart from Ethan Roots but there was a determination to stick with him in the first half as England went back on the scoreboard.
The second half started similarly but after England built a lead that always looked like enough to keep the tired home side at bay, they stopped playing, shut up shop and put the leather out of the box. This is not Danny Care’s strongest outfit of his career and at 37 it might be an idea to let him play a bit rather than bringing him in with the intention of really running down the clock.
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The concern is that Borthwick took a brief look at what England could be capable of, didn’t like what he saw on the scoreboard and put his back to typing. The hope is that England will be able to settle into their new rhythms, adapt and adapt to a more ambitious style of play.
After all, England failed to collect a try bonus point and while Italy’s late effort was good after the clock went red they finished just three points short. If the defensive system is a work in progress, I hope it dawns on Borthwick and his coaches that the idea of attacking is better than trying to hold on to what you have.
Of the five rookies, who got every minute, Roots was very visible as one of the few players who gave England some progress. He made his fair share of mistakes as Italy seized an early lead but – as a former cage fighter – he has a bit of a dog about him and welcomes England’s back ranks.
Chandler Cunningham-South wasn’t far behind after coming off the bench, making a fine cover tackle in the right corner before galloping down the left wing long after.
It’s clearly taking them a while to get used to Felix Jones’ defensive system and that’s putting it mildly. England were guilty of making too many mistakes in the first half, getting on top early – three penalties were awarded in the first five minutes – and they were badly exposed to Italy’s two tries before the break.
Whether England’s review focuses on the growing pains or the glimpses to be told of their way through the tournament.
