England produce the expected...

Firstly, a coach'e plea:

“Before Covid, referees were quick on the whistle with any ruck infringements. As a result, the ball was won quickly and moved on. For whatever reason, referees have relaxed on ruck discipline. The longer the ball is in the ruck the more likely a player will run from distance and dive in head first, which is exactly what Fagerson did in the 54th minute of the Wales-Scotland game. He wasn’t the only one, but his action made life exceedingly difficult for Scotland afterwards” Mike

England’s get out of jail card, Ford with Farrell at 12, was always going to be hard to deal with for an inexperienced Italian defence. Denying Watson and May the ball proved difficult. The top sides, New Zealand and South Africa, would be a different proposition.

Second-man attacking plays can be played at different angles, flat and deep. If you run a double second-man play at an acute angle, the passers must react and run instinctively if the defence comes hard. If the angle of attack is deep, the defence may not commit but drift, or come up, hold, then drift. The outside attackers can then run under early and from deep positions. Redpath, Rees-Zammit, Gary Ringrose and Frederico Mori all young internationals, can do this at ease.

My point is that if your 12 cannot run those instinctive, late lines your attack becomes predictable, because he is never a threat and remains a passer. The defence is quite happy to meet you in the 15-meter channel, where you run out of space.

Ma’a Nonu (NZ) was such an asset because he could play both styles. Give him half a meter and he would attack the hole.

Farrell is not a running threat at 12! Under any style.

The big pluses for England, Itoje and Hill, look an effective pairing. Mako Vunipola adds so much with his deft passing skills, and both wingers are hard to hold given space.

Italy in premier league soccer terms are mid-table, finding it hard to beat any of the top 5 or 6. BUT they know how to play. Until Watsons interception in the 50th minute they were close and remained competitive. The coach deserves credit.

Last week the kilts were on for Scotland, now they’re off again. After 37 minutes they led Wales 17-3. As a coach you might be feeling good. However, the 6 Nations consistently throws up surprises, and there will need to be another one when Scotland travel to Paris next to meet France.