England have never lost any of their 18 Tests against Italy and a heavy victory over the Azzurri at Twickenham tomorrow could all but assure Stuart Lancaster’s Grand Slam chasers of the title.
Logic suggests England, who were to name their team yesterday, ought to win well and move closer to a first Grand Slam since their World Cup-winning year of 2003.
However, logic would not have forecast pre-tournament favorites France would now be bottom of the table and facing the prospect of a first whitewash in more than 50 years.
Mike Brown, set to retain his place on the left wing this weekend, insisted there was no danger of England getting ahead of themselves against an Italy side who blew the Championship wide open by beating France in the first round.
“We are just focused on winning the game and how we are going to do that. Scoring a lot of points doesn’t matter,” Brown said. “It is going to be a tough test. If we take our eye off the ball we will be turned over. We saw what they did to France.”
England coach Stuart Lancaster has already hinted he will pick a changed team to face the Azzurri, ahead of next week’s finale against Wales in Cardiff.
One alteration is set to be enforced, with the experienced Toby Flood likely to replace the injured Owen Farrell at flyhalf.
Meanwhile, prop forward Mako Vunipola is in line for a first Test start, with scrumhalf Danny Care, back-row James Haskell and hooker Tom Youngs all pushing for recalls as well.
Italy, who were also due to unveil their lineup yesterday, received welcome news on Wednesday when influential captain Sergio Parisse, one of the world’s leading back-row forwards, was cleared to face England.
Parisse was banned for 30 days after being sent off for verbally abusing a referee while playing for club side Stade Francais against Bordeaux-Begles in a French domestic match on Feb. 16.
The referee, Laurent Cardona, accused the Argentine-born Azzurri star of insulting him in English, a charge that multilingual Parisse has vehemently denied.
Under standard rugby procedure, a ban imposed in one competition also covers all others and Parisse was facing the prospect of missing out at Twickenham.
However, he won his appeal and the relief for Italy in having available a player for whom the word “talismanic” might have been invented was palpable, with coach Jacques Brunel wasting no time in restoring Parisse to the squad.
A stunning Lamine Yamal strike on Thursday helped crown Barcelona La Liga champions with a 2-0 win over local rivals RCD Espanyol, with victory ensuring Real Madrid cannot catch them at the top of the table. Yamal’s effort and Fermin Lopez’s goal took Hansi Flick’s side seven points clear of Los Blancos with two matches remaining, to clinch Barcelona’s 28th title and complete a superb domestic treble. Only the UEFA Champions League title escaped an exciting young Barca side this season, as they won the league for the second time in six years, at Espanyol’s ground again just as in 2022-2023. Back then,
SSC Napoli will have to wait one more week to seal the Serie A title after on Sunday being held to a goalless draw at Parma, while closest rivals Inter drew 2-2 in a dramatic game with SS Lazio. Antonio Conte’s team stayed one point ahead of Inter and were unfortunate not to win after twice striking the woodwork through Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa and Matteo Politano, while Scott McTominay also had a free-kick tipped onto the crossbar. The away side thought they would be handed a chance to take the points from the penalty spot in the 96th minute when David Neres
Jannik Sinner on Thursday marched into the semi-finals of the Italian Open after destroying Casper Ruud in straight sets 6-0, 6-1, while Coco Gauff won a marathon three-set battle with China’s Zheng Qinwen to advance to the women’s singles final. American Gauff is to face Italy’s Jasmine Paolini in today’s title match after pulling through 7-6 (7/3), 4-6, 7-6 (7/4) in a match that lasted over three-and-a-half hours. Ruud was supposed to be Sinner’s toughest test in Rome since he came back from his three-month doping ban, as the Norwegian came into the match in hot form on clay after winning in
Shohei Ohtani on Thursday delivered his first two-homer game of the season and had six RBIs as the Los Angeles Dodgers poured it on with five long balls in a 19-2 victory over the visiting Athletics. Max Muncy, Andy Pages and James Outman also hit home runs for the Dodgers, who left no doubt by taking a 13-2 lead following a seven-run third inning. Muncy and Kim Hye-seong each had three hits for Los Angeles. Dodgers right-hander Matt Sauer led off a bullpen game by allowing two runs in four innings. Left-hander Justin Wrobleski (1-1) finished with four scoreless innings after he
RSS