2024-02-03 17:46:48
An air of déjà vu for Italy or the beginnings of a new era? The Nazionale, attractive in the first period, manhandled England who won 27 to 24 during the first day of the Six Nations Tournament, Saturday.
For his debut at the head of Italy, Gonzalo Quesada believed for 45 minutes his team capable of a resounding feat, a first victory against the XV de la Rose in 31 confrontations.
But the former Argentinian international and his players were brutally brought back to earth when the English, muddled until then, showed off their power and experience after returning from the locker room.
Quesada, who has only had a handful of training sessions with his players since taking office, knew the difficulty of his task: he had a concrete illustration of this with his young Nazionale who, like many others before her, showed two faces.
First there was a team without complexes, playful and getting ahead of a borrowed England.
It is embodied by the Garbisi brothers, Paolo and Alessandro, associated for the first time at this level, the youngest scoring for his 8th selection a formidable try on a breakthrough in the axis of Lorenzo Cannone (12th, 10-0).
England ends its curse
The second Italian essay of the afternoon is even more beautiful and symbolizes the evolution, rather than the revolution, advocated by Quesada.
On a ball recovered in their camp during a strong English moment, the Azzurri overtook their opponents in three passes and Tommaso Allan impeccably served by Tommaso Menoncello brought the score to 17-8 (25th).
But England, stunned by the speed of execution and Italian ambitions, was able to stay in the match thanks to a corner try from Elliot Daly after a breakthrough from Tommy Freeman (20th).
The return from the locker room sounded the death knell for the Azzurri’s hopes and the meeting that had been rhythmic up to that point decreased in intensity: the Nazionale lost its footing physically and multiplied the bad choices.
England took the opportunity to score a second try by Alex Mitchell and take the lead for the first time thanks to the transformation of George Ford (21-17, 45th).
Once Italy’s time had passed, England, relentless, flew away thanks to two new penalties from the Saracens opener (27-17) and stopped their curse of the first days: they thus won their first match of a Six Nations Tournament since 2019.
“Much to improve”
Third in the last World Cup, Steve Borthwick’s team will have to improve significantly to aim high in this 2024 edition, despite the absences of fly-half Owen Farrell (on international break), Courtney Lawes (retirement) and Manu Tuilagi (injured).
“I am very happy with the result, with the reaction of the team which reacted well to obtain this victory, but there are a lot of things to improve, Italy scored too easily, our combinations left something to be desired”, admitted the English coach.
“The team is young, five players made their debut today, it is in the learning phase, we will improve,” he insisted.
Italy can console themselves by remembering that they have never been so close to beating England.
“Honestly, I don’t think about the difference in points between the two teams, even if it is minimal, insisted Quesada. I am proud of the state of mind of my players, they showed at times the team that ‘we wanted and could be’.
The Nazionale, which will travel to Dublin next weekend, can nourish the ambition of escaping the 6th and last place which has stuck to its jersey since 2016 as shown by its last action of the match which it concluded in beauty and for honor with a try from Monty Ioanne (84th).
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