FOR THE second time in as many visits England have arrived to find snow falling in the Eternal City. The matchday forecast is not great and it was more a case of sleet chariot than la dolce vita yesterday as the team sloshed back from training on yet another artificial pitch, having again failed to find a playable stretch of grass. England’s forwards coach, Graham Rowntree, is not seeking excuses – “We’re great on Astroturf at the moment” – but preparations have been less than ideal.

At this rate the expectant crowd of almost 75,000 set to fill the Stadio Olimpico will be treated to a slow-burning spectacle, with fears the playing surface could cut up badly. Given the referee is France’s Jerome Garces, who presided over a depressing orgy of collapsed scrums involving the Ospreys and Saracens in December, the prospects of a scintillating try-fest appear bleak. “Our guys are used to playing on surfaces that are not perfect,” retorted Rowntree, as reliably upbeat as always. “We’ll just bring longer studs.”

Underfoot conditions aside, England know exactly what awaits. Italy have never beaten them and there is a consensus from Tuscany to Twickenham that this is the best chance yet. Stronger, more settled sides than Chris Robshaw’s have struggled to overpower the gnarled Azzurri pack and England’s last two games at the Stadio Flaminio have yielded winning margins of four and five points respectively. An historic Italian victory may shock some but, based on recent evidence, it would hardly be a total surprise.

In England’s favour is the handy knowledge they avoided a similarly grim scenario in Edinburgh last weekend. “They were licking their lips in Scotland as well,” said Rowntree. “I’m hoping for a similar result and a similar effort, in terms of the courage and spirit they showed. If we have the same effort, endeavour and energy I’ll be delighted.”

Eclipsing the new record England set for tackles in a single match last week is not, in itself, the answer. Italy are scarcely try-scoring machines themselves but they are excellent at retaining the ball for long periods and slowly building pressure.

Rowntree rates Leonardo Ghiraldini highly as a scrummaging hooker and Alessandro Zanni and Robert Barbieri are backrow forwards of real quality. If England do not protect their own ball better – and do more with it – they cannot rely on Italy being as profligate as the Scots.

“We’re under no illusions,” acknowledged Robshaw. “They’re getting better and better and we saw what they did to the French last year. We’re sure they’ll have a couple of tricks up their sleeves but it’s about focusing on ourselves and making sure our defence is top-notch again when they have the ball. Good sides back up their performances. They win whether it’s ugly or free-flowing rugby.”

With Courtney Lawes, Toby Flood and Manu Tuilagi potentially returning against Wales in a fortnight’s time and plenty of competition on the bench, there should be no shortage of personal English motivation. If they were to fly home with two wins from two, against considerable odds, it would set up the Welsh encounter beautifully and reflect well on both players and management. It is amazing how swiftly perceptions can change inside and outside the English Rugby Football Union when the national team starts winning.

Those who reckon England should be playing more rugby under Stuart Lancaster also forget how little time the new regime has had to clear up the fetid post-World Cup mess. Italy, as it happens, are in a similar position, having dispensed with Nick Mallett, around whose ankles the RFU is now sniffing. The only difference is the lurking alley-full of seasoned forwards still involved.

“They have triple the number of caps so our guys are going to have their hands full,” said Rowntree. “As they did last week, I’m expecting them to rise to the occasion.” His confidence is admirable but he knows it will be desperately tight.

ITALY: A Masi (Aironi); G Venditti (Aironi), T Benvenuti (Treviso), G Canale (Clermont Auvergne), L McLean (Treviso); K Burton (Treviso), E Gori (Treviso); A Lo Cicero (Racing Metro), L Ghiraldini (Treviso), M Castrogiovanni (Leicester), Q Geldenhuys (Aironi), M Bortolami (Aironi), A Zanni (Treviso), R Barbieri (Treviso), S Parisse (Stade Francais, capt). Replacements: T D’Apice (Aironi), L Cittadini (Treviso), A Pavanello (Treviso), M Bergamasco (Aironi), P Semenzato (Treviso), T Botes (Treviso), L Morisi (Crociati).

ENGLAND: B Foden (Northampton); C Ashton (Northampton), B Barritt (Saracens), O Farrell (Saracens), D Strettle (Saracens); C Hodgson (Saracens), B Youngs (Leicester); A Corbisiero (London Irish), D Hartley (Northampton), D Cole (Leicester), M Botha (Saracens), T Palmer (Stade Francais), T Croft (Leicester), C Robshaw (Harlequins, capt), P Dowson (Northampton). Replacements: R Webber (Wasps), M Stevens (Saracens), G Parling (Leicester), B Morgan (Scarlets), L Dickson (Northampton), J Turner-Hall (Harlequins), M Brown (Harlequins).

Referee: Jerome Garces (France).

Assistant referees: George Clancy (Ireland) and Neil Paterson (Scotland).