Italy player ratings vs England: The Italians fell to another comprehensive Six Nations defeat at the Allianz Stadium.
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Italy put up a spirited display but were ultimately dismantled by England at Allianz Stadium.
Having kept it tight until half-time with tries from Ange Capuozzo and Ross Vintcent, the Azzurri let the game get away from them after the break. Seven tries from the English, only interrupted by a Tommaso Menoncello consolation with ten minutes to go, resulted in a comfortable 47-24 win for the hosts.
Here’s our player ratings for Italy in their defeat to England.
ENGLAND: 47
- Tries: Tom Willis (03′), Tommy Freeman (26′), Ollie Sleightholme (34′, 52′), Marcus Smith (43′), Tom Curry (46′), Ben Earl (80′)
- Pens:
- Cons: Fin Smith (03′, 27′, 35′, 44′, 47′, 52′)
ITALY: 24
- Tries: Ange Capuozzo (13′), Ross Vintcent (30′), Tommaso Menoncello (70′)
- Pens: Paolo Garbisi (37′)
- Cons: Paolo Garbisi (14′, 31′, 71′)
Italy player ratings vs England:
1. Danilo Fischetti, 5
Fischetti, investigated in the first half for a possible penalty try incident, failed to spot the danger for England’s fifth try as Tom Curry snuck over from the back of a ruck. With no other notable contributions to the match, the Zebre loosehead can’t be rated any higher.
2. Giacomo Nicotera, 6
Giacomo Nicotera, 6- The standout of a poor starting front row for the Italians, Stade Francais’ Nicotera was nothing if not consistently average throughout. He did his job decently enough at the lineout, contributed occasional moments of note in attack and defence and headed off after 50 minutes.
3. Marco Riccioni, 5
In a game where almost everything happened with the backs, a forward will struggle to have any positive impact. Just after half-time, Riccioni belly-flopped in a poor display of rucking which brought a threatening Italian attack to a whimpering close. To make matters worse for the Saracens tighthead, England went straight up the other end to secure a bonus point try through Marcus Smith, and Riccioni was promptly substituted.
4. Niccolo Cannone, 6
The elder Cannone had his moments in this match, causing a few problems to the English line with his carries. That being said, the lack of forward play throughout this one made it difficult for either second row to make their mark, and Cannone exited with eleven minutes to play.
5. Federico Ruzza, 5
Another of the Italian squad’s strong Benetton contingent, Ruzza didn’t cover himself in glory in this match. Pinged by referee Andrew Brace on a couple of occasions, Ruzza has definitely had better games for the through the closing stages as England pulled away in the second half. The French-born scrum half did a half-decent job in a period which was always going to be difficult to dictate.
Azzurri.
6. Seb Negri, 6
So often a bright spot for his country, Negri was quiet in this game as the flair players strutted their stuff in the first half and England controlled the second. With a solid enough defensive showing during the hosts’ dominance, Negri earns himself an average rating.
7. Michele Lamaro, 5
Captain Lamaro made very little impression on the game with his 51 minutes of action. The flanker, one of 12 Benetton men in the matchday squad, was anonymous throughout a quiet day for most of the Italian pack.
8. Ross Vintcent, 8
Vintcent caused problems for England on both sides of the ball, sealing off rucks and crashing in breakaway tries. The Johannesburg native was one of the driving forces behind Italy making this a game rather than the battering they were expected to receive. Taken off with half an hour remaining, Italy’s collapse may have been lessened had they chosen to leave the Exeter man in the fray.
9. Stephen Varney, 6
Varney’s poor decision making led directly to England’s opening try, being caught out and knocking the ball on to set up a breakaway for Tom Willis’ score. His box-kicking was decent enough at times, but the Vannes scrum-half didn’t do enough in his 56 minutes to warrant a higher score than a six.
10. Paolo Garbisi, 7
Garbisi had a mixed bag at fly-half for his side today. The Toulon man was the catalyst for the first try, dinking into Nacho Brex’s hands in the buildup to Capuozzo’s crossing. His looping kicks gave Ioane and Capuozzo chances to cause issues, but a misplaced effort from a very straightforward position simply has to drop his rating.
11. Matt Gallagher, 6
The ex-Bath winger was unable to have the same influence on the game as the rest of the Italian backs, with most of the visitors’ attacking moves heading down Ioane’s flank. Gallagher floated through this one without anything of note, bar a smart defensive play in the first half to knock a ball down backwards.
12. Tommaso Menoncello, 8
Quiet for most of the first half while his fellow backs showed out, Menoncello showed an incredible piece of trickery on 39 minutes, moving an opponent’s leg to cause an Alex Mitchell knock-on. The inside centre caused trouble in most of Italy’s attacking moves and grabbed himself a consolation try late on.
13. Juan Ignacio Brex, 7
The much-lauded outside centre played a key role in the opening try for the visitors while bringing his trademark crunching carries to the Italian attack. While he didn’t trouble the scoresheet alongside some of his fellow backs today, Brex put in the kind of performance which warrants his reputation as one of Italy’s best.
14. Monty Ioane, 8
Lyon wing Ioane was a thorn in the side of England’s wide players under every high kick, and set up the opening try with a deft chip over the hosts’ line. Gonzalo Quesada clearly had the Melbourne-born man as his number one target, as he was far more involved in promising attacking spells than Gallagher.
15. Ange Capuozzo, 8
Ange Capuozzo, 8- Capuozzo put the finishing touches on Italy’s opening try to level the scoring and teed up Ross Vintcent’s try with a breathtaking burst of pace. However, the Toulouse man loses marks for getting caught napping by Tommy Freeman for England’s second try, allowing the Northampton winger to cross following an Elliot Daly grubber. He exited the game for the final ten minutes, returning at the end for a Gallagher HIA, and overall was solid for the Italians today.
16. Gianmarco Lucchesi, 5
Lucchesi, introduced with half an hour remaining, had his first moment of note just after coming on, albeit not positive. He was bamboozled by an offload from opposite number Jamie George in the build-up to Ollie Sleightholme’s second try, and did little else to move the needle above a five.
17. Mirco Spagnolo, 6
Forced to spend 20 minutes playing some fairly defensive rugby in a backs-heavy system, Spagnolo was never going to be a key figure in this one. He had a few big carries in the English half which deserve a mention, but couldn’t do a huge deal else in his time on the pitch in London.
18. Simone Ferrari, 6
Introduced as Italy’s first substitute on 48 minutes, Ferrari’s imposing physicality conjured images of Lamborghini tractors rather than namesake Formula One cars. Similar to Spagnolo, there wasn’t a huge amount Ferrari could do to change the game in this one.
19. Riccardo Favretto, 6
Favretto, introduced with eleven minutes remaining in place of Cannone, had no chance to show off his talent as Italy spent most of that time in their own half. The 23-year-old can take solace from watching Ruzza and Cannone fail to raise eyebrows with their performance this afternoon, and could be in line for a bigger role in the championship closer against Ireland.
20. Manuel Zuliani, 7
Zuliani used his 29 minutes to good effect, providing a crashing run which set up Menoncello’s consolation score in the closing stages. With the more experienced names ahead of him in the squad not showing up today, the 24-year-old is another player possibly looking at increased game time come time to face the Irish.
21. Lorenzo Cannone, 6
Similar to lots of the bench players, the younger Cannone wasn’t able to make his mark in the back row. The imperious Vintcent was a tough act to follow, and Cannone didn’t have the time or possession to do so at Allianz Stadium.
22. Martin Page-Relo, 6
Lyon’s Page-Relo was given the unenviable task of managing the Azzurri
23. Tommaso Allan, 6
Allan, educated in High Wycombe before his first spell at Perpignan, had a ten-minute cameo in place of Capuozzo which produced very little of note. Italy are much improved from their days of regularly receiving the Wooden Spoon, but this one was a lost cause from the 50th minute, giving Allan very little opportunity to show his vast talent.
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