England will be in for another Six Nations shocker unless they show plenty of “patience” as well as clinical finishing at Allianz Stadium today.
World Cup winner Ben Kay expects fans will see a much more dynamic and exciting performance from Steve Borthwick’s men when they host Italy.
By filling his back line with five Northampton stars, Borthwick has given a clear indication, he wants to see attacking fireworks from the start as England try to back up wins over Scotland and France.
Having been criticised for the way his men failed to show much flair or positivity in those victories, Borthwick will be anxious to prove his team can also pile up the points with a Twickenham try-fest.
Taking Chances
But while Kay, below, is expecting to see a totally different approach from Maro Itoje and his teammates today, he says: “England will also need to show patience and take their chances because Italy are certainly not going to turn up and roll over for them.
“They have already proved they have the potential to upset the bigger teams in recent times. They may have suffered a big loss against the French but they have the players with the ability to make breaks, score tries and cause real problems.
“No doubt Italy will want to bounce back from what happened in Rome a couple of weeks ago when France were outstanding.
“Sometimes you can get too fired up and end up punching yourselves out after about 20 minutes. But if England play as they did against Scotland there’s no reason why Italy cannot come to Allianz Stadium and beat them. Italy have already beaten Wales so England know they need to be a lot better.
“I believe they will be. I feel you will see a completely different attacking mindset from them.”
Northampton Saints
Fraser Dingwall starts at inside centre in place of Ollie Lawrence and Kay is confident the Saints-heavy backline will fire.
Kay added: “They went up to York for the fallow week to work on things, and Borthwick has picked more Northampton players in his side.
“So it becomes more of a back line from a club which has been the most cohesive in English club rugby for the past two years.
“France often do that. They will pick the majority of the Toulouse players if they want to play a certain way but England haven’t always done that.
“I am expecting to see these England boys having had a week away together in their own company and being disappointed with themselves despite getting the win over Scotland.
“They were reliant on the missed kicks from Finn Russell to get them over the line and will still have points to prove in the attacking department. I expect them to really put on a show with those attacking Northampton players.”
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