There is a famous television interview that came to stand as a signature memory of Steve Borthwick’s oft-maligned tenure as England captain. It was February 2010 at the Stadio Flaminio and England had endured a dreadful day, barely squeaking by a limited Italian side. Off the skipper came to face the BBC microphone, before uttering a short sentence that came to define his muddled, morose stint.
“We did some fantastic stuff,” was the misjudged reply to the questioning of Sonja McLaughlan, an opinion that the ever-forthright No 8 Nick Easter almost immediately disagreed with. “My god, that was boring,” Easter remarked post-match – an assessment most felt rather more correct. Borthwick lasted just two more matches before a knee injury ended his Six Nations; that July, while the lock was on his honeymoon in Bali, a call from Martin Johnson ended his international career entirely.
His time as head coach so far has been nowhere near as miserable as that tricky campaign but the recent messaging has been nonetheless mixed. As England prepare for another meeting with the Azzurri, their beauty is very much in the eye of the beholder – at last winning games after an annum of near misses, criticism of their showing against Scotland has rankled the camp, the players questioning what, precisely, the public want.
On Sunday, there can be no mistaking the demand. England have still not lost to Italy; while a three-point margin in Rome last year reflects their growth, the Allianz Stadium crowd will anticipate England not just winning, but winning well.
“If we are completely honest, we have won the last two games out of scrapping and fighting, really,” hooker Jamie George, promoted to the starting side as he wins his 100th cap, said earlier this week. “The systems stuff hasn’t quite worked both sides.
“It’s been important for us to get those results in those close games, certainly for the mood in the camp. We are aware that we can play better. We are aware that defensively we need to be better, that we need to be able to move the ball and score tries. But it’s showing good character.”
Borthwick’s code can sometimes be hard to decipher, but one theme has been consistently clear in each of his public utterings over the last 12 months. Since the start of last year’s Six Nations, the head coach has declared his desire to see his team play bravely and boldly, encouraging them to show the free will and freedom that they do in club colours. It is a repeated assertion that has jarred, slightly, with his side’s tendency to revert to kicking type.
Yet both Borthwick and his squad have been clear that elements of the Scotland performance displeased them, however desperately needed a Calcutta Cup win was. The boss picked out a instant in the opening exchanges of the contest when a quick lineout could have been thrown to exploit space in the Scottish chase as an example of the type of moment he wants his side to seize.
The demotion of Marcus Smith understandably prompted questions in this context, particularly with a dry day and slightly kinder opposition creating the kind of conditions in which the Harlequin is ripe to thrive. But in his Northampton-heavy backline, Borthwick surely feels he has a unit that will be the sum of their parts – cohesion and connections allowing the engine to click with Smith a potential supercharger off the bench.
That Smith’s absence, and Henry Slade’s omission, could be described as droppings is in its own way a mark of Italy’s improvement. No longer a fixture earmarked for rotation, given the threat they now pose, England should, and will, treat Gonzalo Quesada’s side with the utmost respect even after France put 73 points on them in round three.
That was a dispiriting day for those enjoying the march of the Roman legion, the hosts decimated and dismantled in a way that one hoped they could no longer be. Yet their narrow defeat in this fixture last year feels a more accurate reflection of the baseline level Italy are now consistently showing. England is the lone Six Nations territory left to conquer; the prospect of veni, vidi, vici and a glorious victory may be difficult to countenance given their rough record but if any Italian side is going to break the duck, this may be it.
Flawed they may be in some ways, there is a lot to like about Quesada’s squad. Their jackal threat and ability to slow ruck ball is a matter of which the hosts, struggling already in that regard, are keenly aware, while a backline of astute athletes has the ability to exploit England’s error-ridden edge defence. Monty Ioane, fit to return, will fancy his chances of following James Lowe, Louis Bielle-Biarrey and Duhan van der Merwe in making hay down the flank.
Centres Tommaso Menoncello and Juan Ignacio Brex, meanwhile, might be the finest Italian double act since Sergio Leone and Ennio Morricone, each complementing the other delightfully. “They are a very talented duo,” Fraser Dingwall, brought in at inside centre for Slade, effused of the men he will spend much of his time standing opposite. “They are both very good players in their own right, but as a partnership have built really nicely.
“I like the way they operate, how they interchange to bring out each other’s strengths. They provide a big challenge for us – but if you can get a handle on them, you can limit how their whole team functions.”
While they dare not overlook their opposition’s strengths, England will recognise that these final two weeks provide opportunity for a liberation. Italy at home, Wales away is about as kind as it comes in this competition; four wins are firmly within reach.
Having been together for six weeks in this campaign, and more than a year into their rebuild, there can be no more pleading for patience – it’s time for England to start to show the extent of their potential.
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