Italy v England: Shouldn't inspirational speeches be your job, Steve Borthwick
Four weeks ago they were being tipped as possible grand slam winners, now England are barely favourites to beat Italy, a team they have never lost to.
A month is a long time in the Six Nations, especially one as condensed as this with only one fallow week to lick wounds, restore balance and rediscover belief.
Steve Borthwick has spent the tournament’s only extended break bringing in guest speakers from inside and outside of the game to try to motivate his players to find it within themselves to arrest a slide that was as sudden as it has been alarming.
Several 2003 World Cup winners, the freshly-minted double Winter Olympic gold medallist Matt Weston and England football boss Thomas Tuchel have all visited England’s Surrey base since Scotland and Ireland crushed their title aspirations, each providing inspiration through their own stories.
A cynic might argue that as head coach Steve, shouldn’t that be your job, but team leaders have been drawing on other sports for inspiration for years.
And besides, Borthwick has shown he is not afraid of showing leadership when it comes to team selection for today’s visit to the Stadio Olympics in the idyllic Foro Italico complex in Rome.
The changes Borthwick announced on Tuesday came under the sweeping category.
The overhaul concentrated on the backline where only Tommy Freeman survives from the 42-21 mauling by Ireland and even he changes position from wing to outside centre.
Fin Smith has been reinstated at fly-half in his first Test start since the autumn and there is a revamped midfield combination in Seb Atkinson and Freeman.
The sheer scale of the transformation is a roll of the dice from Borthwick, whose judgement as a selector is on the line after what was an unprecedented shake-up from an England boss.
Clearly, he and a coaching staff that includes former Rotherham Titans head coach Lee Blackett and Leeds Rhinos maestro Kevin Sinfield did not see this dramatic drop-off in form coming, especially after they romped to a 45-7 success over Wales four Saturdays ago.
The stinging defeats to Scotland and Ireland have ended this year’s chances of winning the title and with a resurgent Italy up next and the swashbuckling French in Paris seven days later, England have their work cut out just to discover some positives going into the inaugural Rugby Championship that spreads out across the summer and autumn.
Borthwick has declared that standards he considers “unwavering” have not been met and has demanded a reaction, with a host of new faces brought in to deliver that freshness.
Of all those given a shot, Northampton’s Fin Smith is arguably the man with the biggest opportunity resting on his shoulder.
Having failed to make an impact on the British and Irish Lions’ tour to Australia, he then lost his England place to George Ford who starred for England across two Tests in Argentina in his absence. Ford’s destiny seemed to be as the team’s chief conductor for the 2027 World Cup but following his difficulties against Ireland, the No 10 jersey has become a blank canvas with Marcus Smith completing the trio of contenders for the position.
Italy may have rolled over and had their belly tickled in the majority of the previous 32 Tests between these two nations, but this might be the best the Azzurri have ever been.
Jamie George and Ben Earl have been among the players to acknowledge that Italy are stronger than at any time in their Championship history and what was traditionally a routine assignment now has all the making of a Roman ambush, just as Scotland found to their detriment in the teeming rain a month ago.
England’s untried centre partnership of Gus Atkinson and Freeman face a mammoth task – shackling arguably the finest midfield in the game dubbed ‘Brexoncello’. Juan Ignacio Brex has returned from the family problems that forced him to miss the losses to Ireland and France to be reunited with Tommaso Menoncello and the duo will be ready to exploit their opponents’ inexperience.
It is a combination that has been forged across years playing for Benetton and Italy and they dovetail beautifully with Brex’s shorts passes finding a devastating outlet in the rampaging Menoncello.
The blue shirts are ready to rise and make history. They smell blood in the Collosseum.
England are on the back foot.