England’s Six Nations campaign hit an all-time low as Italy sealed a famous victory over Steve Borthwick’s side on Saturday.
Following disappointments against Scotland and Ireland, England failed to bounce back as the Azzurri ran out 23-18 winners to leave Borthwick’s men bottom of the Six Nations table.
Daily Mail Sport’s ALEX BYWATER was in Rome to rate the players.
England’s Six Nations campaign hit a new low when they were beaten by Italy on Saturday
Italy
Lorenzo Pani – 3
Couldn’t collect Ben Spencer’s first kick and dawdled dreadfully when Elliot Daly put boot to ball. Italy badly missed Ange Capuozzo but still won!
Louis Lynagh – 6.5
Former England training squad member wasn’t given a chance to show what he could do until the hour mark when he made a decisive run.
Nacho Brex – 3
Unusually quiet for a player of his quality and replaced early in the second half.
Tommaso Menoncello – 9
Italy’s superstar ran a brilliant line and burned Daly with ease to score. Then did superbly to set-up his team’s winner.
Tommaso Menoncello was at the heart of Italy’s greatest moments in their win over England
Monty Ioane – 6
Lovely balanced runner when given space and he had his chances but couldn’t stop Tom Roebuck’s try.
Paolo Garbisi – 7
Adventurous first-half cross-kick was nearly very costly but was good from the tee.
Alessandro Garbisi – 6
Shrugged off like a rag doll by Guy Pepper and kicked out on the full but produced good pass for Menoncello’s try before being replaced early.
Danilo Fischetti – 6.5
He and the Italian scrum have been on fire, but they conceded a free-kick early on and didn’t have it all their own way.
Giacomo Nicotera – 5
Justly yellow carded for playing the ball off his feet at a ruck and wasn’t part of a dominant Italian scrum as he has been recently.
Simone Ferrari – 6.5
Enjoyable scrum battle with Genge but he couldn’t get the joy out of the Englishman he’s had from others.
Niccolo Cannone – 8
Strong day at the office in the tight exchanges as his team finally ended England hoodoo.
Niccolo Cannone impressed for the Italians as they finally beat England in a famous triumph
Andrea Zambonin – 7
Shown plenty for Exeter this season and caused a nuisance for England up front. He’s excellent in the air and that’s where large parts of the game are now played.
Michele Lamaro (capt) – 7.5
Day to remember for him as he led Italy to a first ever win over England.
Manuel Zuliani – 7
More than a match for the English back-row in gritty game.
Lorenzo Cannone – 6.5
Got to Fin Smith on one occasion and effected a charged down. No real barnstorming carries but still too good for England.
Replacements
Federico Ruzza 6.5 (for Zambonin 50), Leonardo Marin 8 (for Brex 51), Muhamed Hasa 7 (for Ferrari 51), Alessandro Fusco 6.5 (for A Garbisi 51), Mirco Spagnolo 6 (for Fischetti 58) (for Spagnolo 80), Tommaso di Bartolomeo 6 (for Nicotera 63), Riccardo Favretto 5 (for Zuliani 74), Tommaso Allan 5 (for Pani 74).
England
Elliot Daly – 3
Menoncello went past him to score like he wasn’t there and couldn’t impact the game.
Tom Roebuck – 5
Fine run preceded his try, though he owed the score to the creativity of Fin Smith. Chased kicks hard as ever.
Tommy Freeman – 5
At last given some space to roam when playing at centre but there still wasn’t enough of it. Deserved try.
Seb Atkinson – 5
First Six Nations appearance. One pass straight into touch but carried well enough.
Elliot Daly was one of England’s worst performers in the humiliating loss in Rome on Saturday
Cadan Murley – 5
Surprise starter but two good high-ball reclaims and did well defensively when chasing back late on. Nothing in attack.
Fin Smith – 5
He was charged down once and also spilled possession. Showed awareness of space to kick to Roebuck but couldn’t take his team home.
Ben Spencer – 5
Not the running threat of the injured Alex Mitchell. His kicking was pinpoint but there was too much of it.
Ellis Genge – 4.5
Big head bandage and bloodied shirt showed spoils of war. Dropped ball when going for the line. Replaced by Bevan Rodd.
Jamie George – 5
Shrugged off two knocks to carry on. Scrum was good on the whole but line-out wasn’t perfect.
Joe Heyes – 6.5
One of England’s real bright points in this Six Nations and had another good day at the scrum.
Maro Itoje (capt) – 3
Like his team, he hasn’t been anywhere near his best in this Championship. Too many cheap penalties and second-half yellow was hugely costly and left his team down to 13. This was an embarrassing defeat.
Maro Itoje has struggled during this Six Nations Championship and had another poor showing
Alex Coles – 5
Lost line-out possession in Italian 22 but nice pass to Northampton team-mate Freeman for his try.
Guy Pepper – 5
Strong physical presence and can be pleased with doing the ugly stuff well in gritty game.
Sam Underhill – 5
Came in at the 11th hour for Tom Curry who was injured in the warm-up. England’s breakdown work was messy and yellow carded for high shot.
Ben Earl – 5
Led team out on his 50th cap and made 13 first-half carries but milestone game was one to forget.
Replacements
Bevan Rodd 5 (for Genge 58), Jack van Poortvliet 5 (for Spencer 58), Ollie Chessum 5 (for Underhill 68), Trevor Davison 5 (for Heyes 68), Marcus Smith 5 (for Daly 73), Henry Pollock 5 (for Earl 73), Luke Cowan-Dickie 5 (for George 76), Chandler Cunningham-South 5 (for Pepper 76)
Referee
Luc Ramos (France)
Star man
Tommaso Menoncello (Italy)
