He won't thank me for recalling this, but Steve Borthwick's past dealings in Italy do not encourage optimism for this afternoon. In his (brief) period as England captain many years ago, his team performed miserably in Rome, ekeing out a slender win against an Italian side a lot less impressive than today's. But in a deeply unconvincing post-match interview he lavished praise on England's "great performance".
He was shown the door shortly after, by Martin Johnson (IIRC), a man who knew what a great performance was.
I've never been convinced by Borthwick, his "technical knowledge" and that winning season at Leicester notwithstanding. This afternoon looks ominously like Italy's great chance to register their first ever Victory against England.
ND
1 comment:
It's a simple matter. England's rugby has almost always been a combination of (i) thud and blunder, and (ii) the boot.
However they've been kicking badly, not produced enough thud, and not forced enough blunders by their opponents.
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