Key events
Sarah Rendell’s match report
That’s all from me. Thanks for your company.
England march on to the Grand Slam match with France next week as expected, but take nothing away from Italy’s effort in securing a try bonus point in the face of a clearly superior team. They never stopped fighting to the end and asked plenty of questions on the Red Roses defence.
FULL TIME! Italy 33 – 61 England
That’s the final act of a game that ended up far more reasonably balanced than anticipated.
TRY! Italy 33 – 61 England (Francesca Sgorbini)
80 mins. A textbook lineout maul has Sgorbini muscling over to confirm a record points total for Italy vs England.
Conversion is added.
79 mins. From the scrim Italy launch a few waves of attack with England regularly infringing in defence and the wildly scramble. The ball is sent to touch for a late Italian lineout.
77 mins. Italy certainly won’t be dying with the music in them here as they run it from their own 22, all hands and offloads after Mannini runs free from a weak tackle. They are into the England half before some imprecision loses the ball, but the Red Roses then take a turn to spill it. Scrum to Italy on the England 22.
74 mins. The balls is pinging around a bit as both sides lose some of their composure as the tiredness bites. England send it wide through hands to Moloney-McDonald but her attempt to offload to Kildunne is lost into touch.
71 mins. The late spring heat is taking its toll on the players and so Harrison decides it’s best to let the ball do the work and cannons a kick towards the Italian 22. From the lineout, the home side win possession and Stevanin sensibly finds touch in the England half.
69 mins. Robinson looks like she’s been scragged at the back of the ruck but she manages to twist herself free and race up to the Italy 22. The scrambling defence inevitably moves offside as they attempt to halt the momentum of the attack.
A tap and go is taken, but Italy have regathered their composure enough to prevent the England drives and eventually they legally get hands on the ball to win a clearing penalty.
65 mins. England spread the ball in their 22 to Kildunne who sets off for 20 metres before booting forward to chase. Italy cover it but then have a collective attack of chucking it about with little plan and plenty poor execution that leads to a horrible forward pass and the end of a succession of other terrible passes. Mindless stuff from the home side.
63 mins. A solid lineout from Italy allows them to set up a maul in the England 22, but the momentum is drained out of it by the Red Roses getting amongst it, gripping the ball and preventing it coming out. Great degensive work.
Balogun is on for England, along with Head the other debutant as they demonstrate the depth of their resources.
TRY! Italy 26 – 61 England (Marlie Packer)
59 mins. The England back rower decides she’s had enough of waiting for other people to provide stuff and simply puts the hammer down to rumble over from 12 or so metres, blasting about four defender out the way or carrying them over the line with her.
That’s four tries and that one is the best of the lot.
57 mins. Emma Sing puts her foot though the ball to clear it and kicks it so long it nearly ends up in Florence, meaning Ostuni Minuzzi has to retreat miles to within inches of her own line to retrieve it. What an exit weapon the right foot of Sing is.
TRY! Italy 26 – 54 England (Francesca Sgorbini)
55 mins. Short punches the ball forward while attempting to disrupt and Italian lineout on the England 22. The Italians hold up the scrum enough to get the ball away and two phases later Sgorbini picks and goes from the base of the ruck, running in behind the breakdown and over the line.
TRY! Italy 19 – 54 England (Marlie Packer)
52 mins. Sarah Bern is on, and one of her trademark booming runs sets up England in broken play to put the ball through hands with support runners and offloads plentiful. They move it to the right of the field and the final pass finds the veteran Packer for her hat-trick.
Harrison kicks a great conversion from out wide.
50 mins. Italy have some phases around the halfway line, the ball zipped quickly away from the breakdown by Stefan, but the Red Roses defence knocks the rhythm out of it and the box kick is taken as the momentum runs out.
TRY! Italy 19 – 47 England (Abi Burton)
48 mins. England are away quickly from the scrum and up into the Italian 22. They win another scrum and drive it hard from 5 metres over the line for Burton to dab it down. Italy’s pack were splintered into a thousands pieces under the pressure.
46 mins. A clean heel from Vecchini gives solid possession to Stefan who sends the ball into midfield for a couple of carries that move Italy forward 10 metres. It looks on the verge of becoming a good exit, but Stefan and Madia spurn the chance to boot the ball behind the white defence and eventually Le Azzure knock on.
44 mins. Kildunne tries to tickle a kick down the touchline and it forces the ball to ricochet off Ostuni Minuzzi and into touch. England take the lineout off the top and into the backs but the ball is spilled by Jones, giving Italy a tricky defensive scrum in their own 22.
42 mins. Italy win the ball back and force Engalnd to defend early and on their own 22. Harrison decides it’s time to play the percentages and clears to touch.
Second Half!
It’s Madia’s turn to the get the game underway, which she duly does by toe-poking the ball just over 10 metres.
At one point that looked like it would a massacre for Italy, so credit must be given to them for fighting back to give the scoreline a level of respectability. But, the game is there for England as it’s clear they can score almost at will if they put a few phases together.
HALF TIME!
40 mins. PEEEEEEP! Nothing comes of the scrum other than a loud blast on the whistle as the ball is knocked on.
39 mins. The attacking Red Roses lineout comes to nowt and then Marlie Packer is penalised for a high tackle. Mannini sends the penalty to touch but the resulting lineout is spilled by the home side. England will have a scrum in Italian territory as the final attacking platform of the half
37 mins. England waste no time getting back at it, and the powerful carries in the Italian half lead to a not rolling away penalty against the defence. Harrison sprays the ball wide on the advantage but it comes to nothing as a pass goes forward from Short.
TRY! Italy 19 – 40 England (Alissa Ranuccini)
34 mins. A couple of England mistakes, Venner spilling the restart then the pack engaging early at the scrum, hands possession to Italy. Stefan takes a quick tap and soon after Ranuccini takes a pass on the inside to run under the posts.
Conversion added.
TRY! Italy 12 – 40 England (Marlie Packer)
32 mins. England were playing on an advantage, so they come back for a tap and go that soon results in Packer crashing over.
Harrison converts.
31 mins. This situation is made worse for Italy when they are penalised on the next England attack. Harrison takes an age to kick it to touch, cleverly eating up the sin-bin clock, and the resulting maul is sent left for Jones to chase a gubber kick, but it runs dead before she can get there.
29 mins. Stefan opts for a cute blindside move from the scrum, switching it towards the left touchline, however there is very little space and entirely too many defenders for it to work. In the end the scrum half forces a pass forward to D’Inca under pressure and the possession is wasted.
27 mins. An England maul just inside the Italy half concludes with the ref awarding a scrum to the home side. The ball was held in a bit too long and then fumbled by Lucy Packer.
YELLOW CARD! Ellie Kildunne (England)
26 mins. And the inevitable sin bin follows for Kildunne.
PENALTY TRY! Italy 12 – 33 England
25 mins. Giordano opts for the tap and go from five metres, with a few phases of carries from the forwards not enough to breach the white defensive line. The ball is sprayed towards the right touchline where the ball hits the deck after Kildunne slaps it forward.
The ref decides that the England winger prevented a clear scoring opportunity as the ball was about to go to Muzzo with a clear five metre run to the line.
23 mins. Italy get a nudge on at the scrum for the first time to get the ball away cleanly and moving into the backs. They work into the 22 and an increasingly desperate defence from England infringes at the breakdown.
21 mins. Madia whams another restart out on the full due to misjudging the length while attempting a contestable restart. England spread it from the scrum, but the Italian defence finally get their drills right and blitz to force a dropped ball from Venner.
TRY! Italy 5 – 33 England (Amy Cockayne)
19 mins. Conceding a try appears to have angered England as they swarm all over the Italian defence after the restart is spilled. Soon after they are rumbling over the line for another Cockayne try.
TRY! Italy 5 – 26 England (Vittoria Vecchini)
17 mins. But hang on a minute, Italy have a lineout 5 metres from the England line! A good catch and drive drill sets up a blue maul, which takes a few seconds to set before grinding forward for Vecchini to fall over the line at the tail.
Conversion missed.
15 mins. The most worrying thing for Italy is that they are hesitant in the tackle, like they simply don’t fancy it at all, and given England are going at well beyond a point a minute this could be an insurance job by half time for the home side.
TRY! Italy 0 – 26 England (Mia Venner)
14 mins. The Red Roses are moving the ball at will and Italy are all at sea as Venner just glides through a gap in the 13 channel to gallop to the line.
Harrison misses the conversion.
TRY! Italy 0 – 21 England (Helena Rowland)
12 mins. A grubber is angled towards Kildunne’s wing who jabs the ball back infield with quick thrust of the outside of her right boot. This has Italy retreating to cover but they are all second best to Rowland who dabs it down.
Harrison adds two more.
10 mins. The home side keep the ball on the park at the restart and this bonus is built on with a decent steal of the ball from an England ruck. The possession is untidy, including when England snatch it back and knock it on. Italy can’t hold up their own scrum after this, unfortunately
TRY! Italy 0 – 14 England (Amy Cockayne)
8 mins. The blue scrum creaks and folds under pressure, which the ref decides warrants an England penalty, but the all is out and away. THis leads to another penalty near the 22 for Italian defenders not rolling away. The ball is despatched to touch for a lineout and a simple catch and drive allows Cockayne to smash over and score.
Harrison converts.
6 mins. The home side decide to ram a stick in their own spokes by booting the restart out on the full. England will have a scrum on the centre spot.
TRY! Italy 0 – 7 England (Marlie Packer)
4 mins. A return to the 22 pulls the Italy defence in narrow and that is all the opportunity Harrison needs to find space on the right with a cross kick that Packer dives on to score.
Conversion added.
2 mins. Italy struggle to get out of their own 22, with a clever Lucy Packer chip into the corner pinning them back. The ball is won back by the Red Roses and they are soon up to the Italian line for Burton to force over the whitewash. She’s held up by a tenacious defence, but this simply brings a goal-line drop out and more England pressure.
Kick Off!
The ball is sent deep into Italian territory and we’re undeway
Can the Italian women join the men and make 2026 the year of a double first ever win over England? We’re about to find out.
The teams are on their way out, but not before Helena Rowland emerges from the tunnel alone to take the applause on the occasion of her fiftieth cap.
Pre-match reading
Give me a shout with all your thoughts and feelings on the match and anything else besides on the email. Don’t be shy now.
Teams
Italy are unchanged in the backs as Fabio Rosselli sticks with the personnel from the impressive Scotland win. The pack is a different story, with Alessandra Frangipani returning in the second row and Beatrice Veronese coming into the back row.
John Mitchell makes several changes to the England side. Emma Sing and Mia Venner come into the back three, with Ellie Kildunne returning to the wing berth where she caused damage to Scotland a few weeks ago. Helena Rowland earns her 50th cap in midfield alongside Megan Jones, while up front there’s a stable front row of Kelsey Clifford, Amy Cokayne and Maud Muir. Demelza Short continues in the back row; while there’s interest on the bench with a potential debut for flanker Haidee Head.
A very late injury to Maddie Feaunati brings Haineala Lutui into the side, with Abi Burton shifting to Number 8 and another debutant in Christiana Balogun added to the subs.
Italy
15 Vittoria Ostuni Minuzzi, 14 Aura Muzzo, 13 Michela Sillari, 12 Beatrice Rigoni Mannini, 11 Alyssa D’Inca, 10 Veronica Madia, 9 Sofia Stefan; 1 Silvia Turani, 2 Vittoria Vecchini, 3 Vittoria Zanette, 4 Valeria Fedrighi , 5 Alessandra Frangipani, 6 Beatrice Veronese, 7 Alissa Ranuccini, 8 Elisa Giordano.
Replacements: Chiara Cheli, Gaia Maris, Gaia Dosi, Giordana Duca, Francesca Sgorbini, Alia Bitonci, Emma Stevanin, Francesca Granzotto.
England
15 Emma Sing, 14 Mia Venner, 13 Megan Jones, 12 Helena Rowland, 11 Ellie Kildunne, 10 Zoe Harrison, 9 Lucy Packer; 1 Kelsey Clifford, 2 Amy Cokayne, 3 Maud Muir, 4 Haineala Lutui, 5 Delaney Burns, 6 Demelza Short, 7 Marlie Packer, 8 Abi Burton.
Replacements: Connie Powell, Mackenzie Carson, Sarah Bern, Christiana Balogun, Haidee Head, Flo Robinson, Holly Aitchison, Claudia Moloney-MacDonald
Preamble
It is certainly true that since 2024, Italy have improved consistently under Fabio Roselli’s stewardship. This has been perhaps most obvious this year as the head coach refreshed his squad with some younger personnel then even with a couple of defeats the promising performances continued, plus the bonus of the walloping of Scotland in the last round.
However, Le Azzurre and Roselli must now place this optimism fully in the path of the killdozer that is England. There were predictions coming into the tournament, not without some logical foundation, that due to injuries, some ageing players and a slight drop-off in form, John Mitchell’s team may not chew up everything in their way with the same cataclysmic gusto. Those predictions were wrong, and today Italy must contend with the Red Roses taking another opportunity to revel in contradicting this wrongness. The truth is they remain terrifyingly brilliant enough, as always.
Such is the nature of modern discourse on a number of matters that there is often a need to point out that two things can be true at the same time. Italy are about to find out.