England must match Italian passion

England captain Chris Robshaw admitted Friday he is wary of hosts Italy's passion ahead of their Six Nations clash at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome on Saturday.

The Harlequins flank said England would need to match the energy and desire shown by their hosts if they are to continue their winning start to this season's tournament.

England opened with a tight 13-6 victory over Scotland at Murrayfield last week in which they drew particular praise for a stubborn rearguard action.

Italy also impressed with a new and more adventurous attacking style, although missed tackles cost them dearly in a 30-12 defeat in France.

"A week's a long time in international rugby and already we feel a lot more experienced than last week," said Robshaw of England's youthful and inexperienced line-up.

"For a lot of us it's our first away game in the Six Nations, we're under no illusions as to what tomorrow is going to be like.

"We're coming over to Italy, it's not going to be easy by any means as they're getting better and better every year.

"We saw what they did to France last year and even last week they held the ball for a long time but it's all about ourselves."

Italy stunned France 22-21 last year to gain their first ever Six Nations victory over their trans-Alpine neighbours.

They have never beaten England, though, and that is a record Robshaw intends to defend.

"Everyone knows about Italy's passion and we have to match that," he added.

"Every player is so passionate to play for his country, as a rugby player it's one of the highest levels you can have.

"When we walk out there and represent our country, especially in a European capital such as Rome, we're going to have to front up.

"It's about focusing on ourselves in the first and last 10 minutes and going toe to toe."

According to England's own statistics they made 238 tackles against Scotland and Robshaw expects a similarly dogged performance this weekend.

"With Italy we know what to expect, they're a very physical side, they hold the ball through the phases and give it a go, especially up front in the forwards," he added.

"We know what to expect, we know they'll have a couple of tricks up their sleeves so we must ensure that when they do get the ball, our defence is top notch again."

England forwards coach Graham Rowntree, himself a former prop in the national team, says he has been impressed with the spirit in the camp this week, particularly given the difficult training conditions forced upon them due to the weather.

"We're great on Astroturf at the moment," he joked.

"We had disruptions this week which is another sign that the lads have gelled together well and just got on with things," he said.

"It's a fantastic stadium where we'll play tomorrow but then we trained on (an artificial) surface again today.

"The pleasing thing as a coach is to see how we got on with things this week.

"There have been major disruptions but you wouldn't have noticed it from the quality of training and the lads' quality of attitude."

There was a suggestion in the Italian press that the Azzurri will try to target veteran fly-half Charlie Hodgson but Rowntree has no doubts the 31-year-old Saracens player is up to the task.

"Charlie's born again in terms of England. He's been exceptional around this group of players.

"We have every confidence in every part of his game. There's always that threat of the fly-half being targeted but we have people around him who can help him.

"I'm delighted he's around and can bring experience to this group of players."

AFP