Preview: Italy v Red Roses
After a comprehensive win over Scotland last weekend, the Red Roses travel to Parma to take on Italy in round two of the TikTok Women's Six Nations.
Poppy Cleall has been named captain for the Test, and she is joined in the back row by Alex Matthews and Sadia Kabeya who get their first starts in the competition. Elsewhere, scrum half Natasha Hunt is set for her first appearance since November 2020.
| When | Sunday 3 April |
| Venue | Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi |
| Coverage | Live on BBC 2 |
| Kick off | 3pm |
England currently occupy top spot in the championship standings whilst the Azzurre find themselves in fifth spot, following a 39-6 defeat at the hands of the French.
"Italy are a very unpredictable side," said head coach Simon Middleton. "We always get a warm welcome from Andrea Di Giandomenico, his team and staff. They have threats which we need to be mindful of and prepared for. It’s another challenge and one we’re all looking forward to."
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Teams
Red Roses
15. Ellie Kildunne, 14. Lydia Thompson, 13. Holly Aitchison, 12. Helena Rowland, 11. Sarah McKenna, 10. Zoe Harrison, 9. Natasha Hunt, 1. Vickii Cornborough, 2. Lark Davies, 3. Shaunagh Brown, 4. Rosie Galligan, 5. Abbie Ward, 6. Alex Matthews, 7. Sadia Kabeya, 8. Poppy Cleall (c).
Finishers
16. Connie Powell, 17. Maud Muir, 18. Sarah Bern, 19. Sarah Hunter, 20. Vicky Fleetwood, 21. Lucy Packer, 22. Emily Scarratt, 23. Emma Sing.
Italy
15. Vittoria Ostuni Minuzzi, 14. Aura Muzzo, 13. Michela Sillari, 12. Beatrice Rigoni, 11. Maria Magatti, 10. Veronica Madia, 9. Sofia Stefan, 8. Elisa Giordano (c), 7. Isabella Locatelli, 6. Francesca Sberna, 5. Giordana Duca, 4. Sara Tuonesi, 3. Lucia Gai, 2. Melissa Bettoni, 1. Gaia Maris.
Replacements
16. Vittoria Vecchini, 17. Francesca Barro, 18. Sara Seye, 19. Valeria Fedrighi, 20. Beatrice Veronese, 21. Sara Barattin, 22. Alyssa D’Inca, 23. Manuela Furlan.
Views from Camp
Vickii Cornborough: “You don’t really know what they’re going to do. Their style of play really rattled the French so it will be a massive challenge. We need to expect the unexpected, handle it, and exploit the opportunities for counterattacking when things get a little loose.”
“We feel like we’re in third gear. We’re always striving for that perfect game and we want to pressurise the opposition in all areas of the pitch. We’ve got high calibre players and we set high standards for ourselves so we’re looking to ramp it up again for the game against Italy.”
England Head coach Simon Middleton: “We’re really looking forward to Sunday’s trip to Italy. Having reflected on the game in Scotland, we know we had plenty to improve on but we did a lot right too. We’ve had an excellent week of preparation, everyone has trained extremely well and we’re delighted with the efforts of the whole squad.
"As a squad we’re really familiar with what threat they can be. They've got an unpredictability about them so we’ve talked about expecting the unexpected. Our key message is to justify the way we train. We’ve trained so well this week, we’ve put so much into it, the girls are ready to go. We can’t play for 40 minutes, we’ve got to really impose ourselves on the game and get out of playing what we put into our training.”
"It’s been a really good trait of the side that we’ve managed to steal victory from defeat at times. On two or three occasions against France alone. The group understands that in the very biggest of games, the margins are very fine. So it’s about maintaining standards around performance and keeping it real.”
Previous encounters
- 18 April 2021: Italy 3-67 England (Six Nations)
- 1 November 2020: Italy 0-54 England (Six Nations)
- 23 November 2019: England 60-3 Italy (Quilter International)
- 9 March 2019: England 55-0 Italy (Six Nations)
- 4 February 2018: Italy 7-42 England (Six Nations)
- 13 August 2017: England 56-13 Italy (Rugby World Cup)
- 25 February 2017: England 29-15 Italy (Six Nations)
- 13 February 2016: Italy 24-33 England (Six Nations)
- 15 February 2015: England 39-5 Italy (Six Nations)
- 16 March 2014: Italy 0-24 England (Six Nations)
Key Stats
In 22 meetings with Italy, England Women have won all 22 games since their first clash at the 1991 Women's Rugby World Cup.
Italy Women finished second in the 2019 Six Nations, their best ever finish in the tournament since they joined in 2007.
The Red Roses are on a 19-match winning run.
In their last four games against Italy the Red Roses have scored over 230 points, with Italy scoring just six points in those meetings.
Related topics
- Attack
- T - Tries
- M - Metres carried
- C - Carries
- DB - Defenders beaten
- CB - Clean breaks
- P - Passes
- O - Offloads
- TC - Turnovers conceded
- TA - Try assists
- PTS - Points
- Defence
- Tackles - Tackles
- MT - Missed tackles
- TW - Turnovers won
- Kicking
- K - Kicks in play
- C - Conversions
- PG - Penalty goals
- DG - Drop goals
- Set plays
- TW - Throws won
- LW - Lineouts won
- LS - Lineout steals
- Discipline
- PC - Penalties conceded
- RC - Red cards
- YC - Yellow cards
Red Roses defeat Italy in Parma
The Red Roses ran in 12 tries at Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi to beat Italy 74-0 in round two of the TikTok Women's Six Nations.
It marked their twentieth consecutive Test win.
The Red Roses set a blistering pace to the match, scoring inside the opening four minutes, as Natasha Hunt found Sarah McKenna on the unattended side of a ten metre rolling maul for the easiest of tries. Zoe Harrison added the extras from the touchline.
Lydia Thompson bagged England's second score ten minutes later, coming off the back of a Vickii Cornborough charge down turnover inside the Italian 22, Helena Rowland pounced on the loose ball and immediately attacked the right flank, sucking in defenders before providing the assist for Thompson to score her 39th international try.
Simon Middleton's charges dominated at set piece, and it was the catalyst behind their third try, a trademark driving maul taken by hooker Lark Davies on the 20-minute mark to make it 17-0.
The forwards continued to shine; Shaunagh Brown powered over from close range moments later for her first international try, and the bonus point score, before Alex Matthews scored in similar fashion as half time neared. Both were successfully converted by Harrison to make it 31-0 at the break.
England's clinical play was clear to see in the half time stats: making 253 more metres, 44 more carries, 94 more passes, while boasting 70% possession.
Thompson crossed for her second try two minutes into the resumption of the match, neat passing found the winger in space, and she rounded Maria Magatti with ease to extend England's lead to 36 points.
The replacements made immediate impacts as Vicky Fleetwood was the benefactor at the back of another rolling maul try on the 50-minute mark, and Sarah Bern went on a rampaging run from half way, fending off Sara Barattin on her way to England's eighth try, making it 48-0.
The visitors continued to be relentless in attack, and had made 1000 metres by the hour mark. Though Italy were brave and strong around the breakdown, they were unable to deny England out wide, as Emma Sing found out, crossing for a first Test try on her second appearance.
Emily Scarratt entered the game at 66 minutes, and bagged England's tenth try with her first touch at 67 minutes - the score brought up a personal landmark for the centre of 50 Test tries. Rowland's extras made it 62-0.
Italy centre Beatrice Rigoni was shown a yellow card with just nine minutes remaining, and England took immediate advantage of the extra player, scoring a converted McKenna try, before Thompson claimed her hat-trick in the final play to round off a comprehensive 74-0 win.
Teams
Red Roses
15. Ellie Kildunne, 14. Lydia Thompson, 13. Holly Aitchison, 12. Helena Rowland, 11. Sarah McKenna, 10. Zoe Harrison, 9. Natasha Hunt, 1. Vickii Cornborough, 2. Lark Davies, 3. Shaunagh Brown, 4. Rosie Galligan, 5. Abbie Ward, 6. Alex Matthews, 7. Sadia Kabeya, 8. Poppy Cleall (c).
Finishers
16. Connie Powell, 17. Maud Muir, 18. Sarah Bern, 19. Sarah Hunter, 20. Vicky Fleetwood, 21. Lucy Packer, 22. Emily Scarratt, 23. Emma Sing.
Italy
15. Vittoria Ostuni Minuzzi, 14. Aura Muzzo, 13. Michela Sillari, 12. Beatrice Rigoni, 11. Maria Magatti, 10. Veronica Madia, 9. Sofia Stefan, 8. Elisa Giordano (c), 7. Isabella Locatelli, 6. Francesca Sberna, 5. Giordana Duca, 4. Sara Tuonesi, 3. Lucia Gai, 2. Melissa Bettoni, 1. Gaia Maris.
Replacements
16. Vittoria Vecchini, 17. Francesca Barro, 18. Sara Seye, 19. Valeria Fedrighi, 20. Beatrice Veronese, 21. Sara Barattin, 22. Alyssa D’Inca, 23. Manuela Furlan.
Fixtures & Results
Italy 0 - 74 Red Roses
Red Roses v Wales - 9 April
Red Roses v Ireland - 24 April
France v Red Roses - 30 April
