Key events
50 min: Kildunne runs from deep and connects with Kabeya who shovels on for Scarratt. But they seemingly get in each others’ way… hang on a minute…
48 min: Italy finally, FINALLY, stitch a move together and Muzzo down the left has room to run. The ball is moved back the other way but England pinch it back. A kick from England, then another from Italy has Kildunne needing to mop up. Rowland eventually puts her boot through the ball but can’t find touch. Stefan box-kicks and Kildunne once again cleans up.
Harrison misses for the third time today. She’s usually more precise from the tee. That was the most difficult of the lot. She’s hitting them well. Just not where she’s aiming.
TRY! Italy 0-15 England (Atkin-Davies, 45)
No stopping that. Atkin-Davies finds the target with the throw five metres out and she benefits at the back of a mighty maul to dot down.
44 min: Penalty for England as they line up and isolate Maris – the Italian prop – who charged straight into the brick wall that is Marlie Packer. Harrison into the corner.
43 min: Harrison kicks straight out in search of a cross-kick pass. They keep trying that move but keep over-hitting them. Italy with the throw on half-way
42 min: Atkin-Davies throws another line-out skew. I think that’s her third of the match.
Back under way. England a woman down but no excuse for a messy half. They’ll want to sharpen up for the next 40 minutes.
Half-time: Italy 0-10 England
Italy kick off the back of a scrum but Kildunne returns with interest. Eventually it’s hoofed out of touch and that draws a close to a scrappy half. England dominated but lacked cohesion. Still, they’re good value for their lead. Back in a bit.
39 min: Italy lack the grunt needed to go through the close channels and the accuracy to go wide. Which means England are able to keep them at arm’s length before pinching the ball. Clifford with the steal and a lovely pass from Harrison has Breach away but it drifts forward so Italy have the scrum in their own half.
TRY! Italy 0-10 England (Ward, 36)
Ward has her try! Just strength from close range after Kabeya charged forward once more. Rowland deserves her flowers for the initial run that brought it so close. Harrison skews the conversion.
36 min: England into Italy’s 22 after quick work from the line-out. Rowland straightens and spots a gap and carries it to striking distance. Five out now…
34 min: A rare foray for Italy in England’s territory. Muzza with a jinking carry but the move is snuffed out as Kabeya provides a crunching tackle that forces the knock-on. The TMO is called up to review a potential dangerous hit by D’Inca on Harrison in the air. Yup, penalty awarded to England.
TRY! Italy 0-5 England (Botterman, 31)
Finally they get there! Botterman is a deserving scorere. She’s been everywhere. From a dominant scrum England go left. Harrison stepped off her right foot and almost went through. Scarratt acting as scrum-half kept things ticking along and it was just a question of who would provide the finishing touch. It was the bustling prop and England are (finally) on the board.
29 min: England get close with a maul but Italy’s defence holds firm. So England go wide with Scarratt acting as playmaker. Ward charges but is a metre short. Botterman carries well. Dow wriggles but can’t work the space. Italy stray off-side so England have a penalty five out. They choose to scrum.
28 min: Better from England. Kildunne started the move with a clean take under a high ball. Kabeya and M Packer over the gainline with strong carries. Scarratt with a cut pop-pass out the back of the hand for Dow against the grain from the wide channel. Botterman bashes two tacklers and Italy lose their feet at the breakdown so England have a penalty just beyond the 22 on the right.
27 min: Italy form an attack but rush a pass and there’s a knock-on. England can’t get their shape together so ball carriers are running from static starts. Another cross-kick doesn’t find the mark. My word folks. I hate to be negative but this really has been a tough watch.
25 min: Aldcroft pinches a line-out and Marlie Packer busts through a tackle around the fringe. Scarratt has the ball, spots some space in the back-field but over-cooks a cross-kick and Italy get the throw around half-way.
23 min: Atkin-Davies is having a mare. Sadly for the hooker, she’s thrown that one skew so Italy will have the line-out five metres from their own line. It’s knocked down and Clifford falls off her feet and gives away a needless penalty.
22 min: Some quality at last! Dow down the wing on attack, she skips past a tackler and then dinks a kick ahead. It’s perfectly weighted as it bounces about a metre or two away from Italy’s try-line. Stefan the captain is there to cover but a tricky bounce makes her life difficult. All she can do is tap it out so England will have a line-out within striking distance once more.
20 min: Italy survive. England’s maul spluttered and then stopped and there’s a rip from an Italian hand. They wriggle their way up to their 22 and then win a scrum. Botterman the guilty player who had the ball snatched from her grasp just a metre away from the Italian line. Italy are scrapping and hanging on.
18 min: Italy make a mess of getting out of their own half and a horrible box kick goes straight up as Cavina fails to get out of the way. She’s off-side so Harrison will nudge this into the corner.
They set a maul but Italy infringe again. So it’s another English line-out and another maul…
Try chalked off! Italy 0-0 England
Scratch that! Double movement is the call. Harsh, but also fair, if you know what I mean. I think either decision wouldn’t have evoked too much controversy. So Italy get a relieving penalty and kick beyond their 22.
TRY! Italy 0-5 England (Ward, 17)
What a finish! She was about five metres short but kept driving her legs after contact and reached out to dot down. Her first Test since having a baby last year, that will be a popular score.
RED CARD! England (Beckett, 16)
The yellow has been upgraded! And to be honest I think that is the right call. Sillari was able to continue but she doesn’t look long for this match. Beckett can have no complaints and now the defending champs must find a win with 14.
16 min: Atkin-Davies finds her jumper and England go to the maul. It’s been a potent weapon over the years and again it rumbles on. It stalls so they’re down the line. Harrison plays a beautiful skipped pass to Kildunne who pops back infield for Breach. That was sharp before it was knocked on.
14 min: England – with only seven in the scrum – win a penalty at set-piece. Shows what I know. I thought Italy were dominant. Luckily I’m not the referee so Harrison boots it over half-way and England will have the line-out.
13 min: Sigh. Italy knock on as they go down the wide channel. Great read from Breach as she rushed up on defence. Feels like Italy are rushing things unnecessarily.
13 min: Italy with the line-out and a player advantage. Eventually they secure the ball, though it’s a mess. They’ll still have their hands on it as an English hand knocked-on in the line-out. Scrum between half-way and the 22 over on the left.
Yellow card! England (Beckett, 11)
No question. In fact, I’d be surprised if this wasn’t upgraded to red. She’s trying to clean out Sillari but loses her footing as she wraps up the Italian, twists her body and falls over Sillari’s knee. For those of you who can remember it, think Shannon Frizzell’s twisting of Bongi Mbonambi’s knee in the early minutes of the men’s World Cup final.
Good news though, Sillari is OK and will continue. Phew. That looked bad.
11 min: I’m sorry to report but this is a proper dross so far. Both teams are better than this. England certainly are. They’re on the ball and Aldcroft does well in a dominant carry. But once the ball goes down the line there’s a lack of spark and accuracy and once again there’s a knock on. Potential croc-roll with Sarah Beckett in trouble. She might have ended Michel Sillari’s season with a truly reckless challenge at the breakdown.
10 min: Italy show some patience having won the line-out after the penalty. Down the line they go but it’s not threatening. An English hand juts out to steal an intercept but knocks-on. Not deliberately so it’s an Italian scrum on half-way.
8 min: ANOTHER botched line-out. Atkin-Davies misses her jumper. Scarratt rushes onto the loose ball but knock-on as she stoops to gather. Really scrappy from England. Italy kick it clear and Kildunne does well to take it back into Italian territory with Scarratt on the support line. Kabeya charges over the gainline with a strong carry. Beckett is hammered in the tackle by Sgotbini and Rigoni gets over the ball to steal a penalty.
7 min: Now England lose a line-out and Italy have it. Ostuni Minuzzi joins the line from full-back but there’s an Italian off her feet and England are gifted a penalty. Good work from Dow who made a tackle and then got to her feet to pressure the breakdown.
5 min: Italy knock-on in the line-out from the penalty. A little scrappy from both side. Understandable perhaps given this is the first game of the competition. England’s scrum is immense and they delay taking the ball out to find the penalty and they do so. Harrison hoofs it past the half-way line.
4 min: Italy secure the ball and send it wide. It’s a little disjointed with runners moving laterally. There’s a spill in contact but it’s an Italian scrum. England shove well but Italy keep the ball and are up to half-way where they win a penalty on the deck as Marlie Packer’s hand touches the floor at the breakdown.
2 min: England turn Italy over immediately from the kick-off and are on the attack inside Italy’s 22. Scarratt at scrum-half spirals it and it goes down the line. Breach is bundled out into touch so Italy have the throw.
England kick off. Here we go!
It looks like a gorgeous day in Parma. Not a massive crowd. But a beautiful setting.
The anthems are getting under way. Not long now.
John Mitchell is on the telly and he says he expects things might “get stick” in his first game.
I think he’s providing caveats unnecessarily. I know this is his first game in charge but surely, surely, he will expect something more slick than sticky.
The broadcast has started on the BBC and rightly they’ve kicked off with Marlie Packer. She’s a gem, isn’t she?
She could be the best player in the world right now (I know I said that was Emily Scarratt, but it’s a coin flip, to be honest).
“I just feel extremely honoured,” she said of her milestone. “It’s always a privilege to wear the shirt and to lead out the Red Roses is something very special. But to do it on my 100th cap and also be captain is just the icing on the cake. It’s something I love, I love leading the girls, I just love to put on the shirt. So yeah, just happy.”
A reminder of yesterday’s results:
– France 38-17 Ireland
– Wales 18-20 Scotland
What’s more impressive than playing in two World Cup finals, winning multiple Six Nations titles and representing your country more than 60 times?
According to Abbie Ward, that would be coming back to full fitness and form after giving birth. The powerful lock returns to international duties after the birth of her daughter in July last year. She scored in her first game back for her club, Bristol, in November and has been immense since.
She spoke with Sarah Rendell about the unique challenge that some elite female athletes face.
If you’re hoping for a close thing today you might be disappointed. Games between England and Italy tend to end in one-sided thumpings with the last three fixtures won by England by scores of 68-5, 74-0 and 67-3.
So, if you’re keen on something tight and nerve-jangling, why not take a read of the report from yesterday where a missed kick prevented a draw between Scotland and Wales:
It’s a big day for John Mitchell. Even so, he’s able to look beyond himself and accept that one day the Red Roses will, maybe even should, be coached by a woman.
He was in top form in a chat with Rob Kitson:
Italy team
The men’s side exceeded expectations in this year’s Six Nations and the under-20s programme is starting to bear fruit.
It’s now over to the women’s team to underline the rise of Italian rugby.
It’s a tough start to the campaign and no one should bank on a win. But the Azzurre have been a force on the rise and they might have added to their solitary win – against Ireland – were they more clinical against Wales and Scotland. They won all of their matches in the WXV 2 series – beating South Africa and the USA along the way – and only lost the title on points difference.
Italy: Ostuni Minuzzi; Muzzo, Sillari, Rigoni, D’Inca’ Madia, Stefan (c); maris, Turani, Seye, Fedrighi, Tounesi, Locatelli, Sgobini, Caniva.
Replacements: Gurioli, Stecca, Gai, Pilani, Duca, Frangipani, Stevanin, Granzotto.
England team
It’s 100 up for the skipper with some familiar names back in the fold.
Marlie Packer will lead the team out on her 100th England appearance and she’ll have plenty of firepower behind her.
The dynamic midfielder (and perhaps the best player on the planet) Emily Scarratt, the metronomic fly-half Zoe Harrison and the totemic lock Abbie Ward all play for the first time since the World Cup final defeat to New Zealand in November 2022. Their presence alone means this is a side with serious business on the mind.
Keep an eye out, too, for loose forward Sadia Kabeya who was one of the breakout stars last year while Helena Rowland – a versatile playmaker at outside centre – could dazzle if given the chance.
Exeter’s Maddie Fe’aunati will make her debut when she comes off the bench to join the back row while Holly Aitchison could turn the dial up late in the second half.
England: Kildunne; Dow, Rowland, Scarrat, Jess Breach; Harrison, L Packer; Botterman, Atkin-Davies, Clifford, Aldcroft, Ward, Kabeya, M Packer (c), Beckett.
Replacements: Powell, Carson, Muir, Fe’aunati, Matthews, Hunt, Aitchison, Jones.
Preamble
So begins a new chapter in Red Roses history. John Mitchell takes charge of a women’s side for the first time having steered the men’s outfits of New Zealand, the United States and a host of club sides around the world while also serving in supporting roles with England, Ireland and Japan. It’s an impressive CV but this is a new challenge.
Not least because of the weight of expectation. With five consecutive Six Nations titles, there’s a case to be made that England’s women are the most dominant rugby side on the planet. But a World Cup is the ultimate goal and with a home tournament kicking off in 2025, now is the time to start shaping a group that can make good on their potential having lost to New Zealand in each of the last two finals.
There’s a milestone for the bulldozing force that is Marlie packer. She brings up her 100th cap for her country and the skipper will want to lay down a statement. Italy won’t be pushovers in Parma, but anything other than a comfortable win for England will come as a surprise.
It all kicks off at 2pm local time/3pm in the UK.
Get in touch if you have a thought you want to share with the group. How do you reckon Mitchell will get on? How can he take this steamroller forward?
Teams and updates to follow.