England 59 Italy 13:ON THE surface, little has changed. This time last season England had also beaten Wales and Italy, opening up the possibility of a Six Nations podium strewn with rose petals.
It proved, within a month, to be little more than a springboard to mediocrity. And this year?
To the rich credit of the new breed of English talent, they seem to have no such fear of heights. The future has not looked this bright for a decade.
It was not so much the lopsided stats of this thumping of the Italians which left an indelible impression. Four tries for the airborne Chris Ashton in an eight-try romp were simply indicative of a complete transformation in attitude.
Gone is the hunched, risk-averse England who wallowed in slow ball and saw only demons when invited to attack. In their place is a team who, increasingly, look born to run.
Several factors have combined to encourage this cultural shift, not least the change of refereeing emphasis at the breakdown which has helped to promote less ballcarrying paranoia and more adventure from deep.
At the heart of England’s renaissance, though, has been the emergence of players who are prepared to back themselves. Ashton is a rebel without a clue in certain respects but his infectious enthusiasm and his poacher’s cunning have brought him nine tries in as many Tests.
The positivity of the two Bens – Youngs and Foden – and Toby Flood is coaxing the best out of colleagues who might otherwise have settled for something more prosaic.
England have the confidence, personnel and tactical flexibility to beat anyone who is unable to block their supply lines.
“A year ago the risk of running the ball out of your own 22 and being penalised at the next breakdown was so great that no one really thought it was worth it,” said Johnson, musing on the metamorphosis of England and Ashton in the past 12 months.
Guardian Service
ENGLAND: Foden; Ashton, Tindall, Hape, Cueto; Flood, Youngs; Corbisiero, Hartley, Cole, Deacon, Palmer, Wood, Haskell, Easter. Replacements: Shaw for Deacon (46), Banahan for Cueto, Thompson for Hartley (both 50), Wilkinson for Flood, Care for Youngs (both 55), Wilson for Cole, Fourie for Wood (both 62).
ITALY: McLean; Masi, Canale, Sgarbi, Bergamasco; Orquera, Semenzato; Perugini, Ghiraldini, Castrogiovanni, Del Fava, Geldenhuys, Bernabo, Zanni, Parisse. Replacements: Dellape for Del Fava (47), Garcia for Sgarbi (59), Barbieri for Bernabo (60), Canavosio for Parisse (63), Ongaro for Ghiraldini (66), Burton for McLean (79). Not used: Lo Cicero. Sinbin: Castrogiovanni (44).
Referee: C Joubert(South Africa).
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