Six Nations 2017: England's Danny Care wants end to '˜ridiculous rule'

The Red Rose were left confused and infuriated by the Azzurri’s strategy of refusing to compete for possession after a tackle had been made at Twickenham on Saturday.

With no ruck formed, there was no offside line and Italy were able to pour forward with impunity to disrupt England’s attacking options.

Granted, they did still lose 36-15, but not before giving the champions an almighty scare, leading a furious England coach Eddie Jones to label it “not rugby.”

It is understood World Rugby are now considering whether to review the laws governing the breakdown to ensure similar scenes do not occur again.

Although the tactic has sporadically been used before it had never been adopted for an entire fixture and Care hopes it is eradicated.

“I think Eddie has said everything that needs to be said about it,” said the Yorkshireman, after England’s 17th straight win.

“We all echo his thoughts. It’s a pretty ridiculous rule.

“If teams feel they need to do that to make it a level playing field it’s very negative.

“It was frustrating, but it’s in the rules for the time being so you have to react to it. We did and we got the win.”

The former Leeds Tykes No 9 was the player most affected given his distribution options were significantly cut down by the sight of Italians constantly in his line of sight, more often than not opposite number Edoardo Gori.

“I’ll be honest, I didn’t know what was going on with the first couple,” admitted Harlequins’ Care, whose side trailed 10-5 against the minnows at half-time.

“I thought he (Gori) had seen a penalty or something. They obviously came with a very strict game plan that they’d been working on all week and put it into play for a good part of the day, but our class showed in the end.”

Ironically, Care played for Italy coach Conor O’Shea for six seasons at Harlequins until he left last year, soon to become the Azzurri chief. O’Shea, who has earned plaudits for his tactical decision from most of the rugby world, said afterwards he had spoken to his former Harlequins and England winger Ugo Monye before kick-off and insisted he had nothing “up his sleeve” for Sunday.

Leeds-born Care, 30, revealed: “I was with Ugo having a haircut on Friday and I didn’t realise he was on the phone to Conor.

“I think Ugo wanted some help for his TV commentary, on the sort of things they were trying to do. Ugo asked him and Conor obviously said no, so I said to him ‘you’re a liar, but a good liar’. Ever the politician, Conor.

“I’m going to pick his brains over a beer. He’s gone from being the most attacking man in rugby to the most negative in one game.

“They felt they had to do it to try to get a result, but they didn’t.”

Asked if O’Shea ever suggested using the tactic while at Harlequins, Care replied: “No, no. We never tried to do that.

“Why the law is like that I don’t know, but it’s within the laws to do it.

“We’ve experienced it against us a couple of times, but only once or twice in certain games.

“To have it in every breakdown is something new. It’s another thing this (England) team has experienced. We got through it and managed to find a way.

“It probably took us a bit longer to adapt than we wanted to, but we did and we got five points.

“There was obviously frustration and there were times when we weren’t sure how many men were in each ruck to quantify.

“It’s a measure of this team that we were down in the first half, but didn’t panic.

“We blew them away with two quick tries early in the second half, they came back into it and then our class showed at the end.”

Care, starting a Test for the first time in a year, scored one with a trademark quick penalty tap that caught Italy flat-footed, but he was replaced soon after.

“I am not sure if I did enough to keep the shirt,” he said, with Ben Youngs the regular scrum-half.

“It is up to Eddie and the other coaches.

“Obviously it was a bit of a frustrating game for a No 9, but I managed to get a couple of runs and a try in the starting shirt.

“Whatever role I’m needed to play v Scotland I’ll be happy with.”

Scotland, of course, are in the hunt for the championship themselves after Saturday’s impressive 29-13 win over Wales that set things up nicely for their Twickenham showdown on March 11.

As England seek back-to-back grand slams, Care said: “I thought they were comfortable winners in that second half, really in control and blew Wales away when they got opportunities.

“They played in the right areas and when they got chances they took them. They will be full of confidence and come down here definitely thinking they can win.”