Key events
29 mins. Stefan opts for a cute blindside move from the scrum, switching it towards the left touchline, however there is very little space and entirely too many defenders for it to work. In the end the scrum half forces a pass forward to D’Inca under pressure and the possession is wasted.
27 mins. An England maul just inside the Italy half concludes with the ref awarding a scrum to the home side. The ball was held in a bit too long and then fumbled by Lucy Packer.
YELLOW CARD! Ellie Kildunne (England)
26 mins. And the inevitable sin bin follows for Kildunne.
PENALTY TRY! Italy 12 – 33 England
25 mins. Giordano opts for the tap and go from five metres, with a few phases of carries from the forwards not enough to breach the white defensive line. The ball is sprayed towards the right touchline where the ball hits the deck after Kildunne slaps it forward.
The ref decides that the England winger prevented a clear scoring opportunity as the ball was about to go to Muzzo with a clear five metre run to the line.
23 mins. Italy get a nudge on at the scrum for the first time to get the ball away cleanly and moving into the backs. They work into the 22 and an increasingly desperate defence from England infringes at the breakdown.
21 mins. Madia whams another restart out on the full due to misjudging the length while attempting a contestable restart. England spread it from the scrum, but the Italian defence finally get their drills right and blitz to force a dropped ball from Venner.
TRY! Italy 5 – 33 England (Amy Cockayne)
19 mins. Conceding a try appears to have angered England as they swarm all over the Italian defence after the restart is spilled. Soon after they are rumbling over the line for another Cockayne try.
TRY! Italy 5 – 26 England (Vittoria Vecchini)
17 mins. But hang on a minute, Italy have a lineout 5 metres from the England line! A good catch and drive drill sets up a blue maul, which takes a few seconds to set before grinding forward for Vecchini to fall over the line at the tail.
Conversion missed.
15 mins. The most worrying thing for Italy is that they are hesitant in the tackle, like they simply don’t fancy it at all, and given England are going at well beyond a point a minute this could be an insurance job by half time for the home side.
TRY! Italy 0 – 26 England (Mia Venner)
14 mins. The Red Roses are moving the ball at will and Italy are all at sea as Venner just glides through a gap in the 13 channel to gallop to the line.
Harrison misses the conversion.
TRY! Italy 0 – 21 England (Helena Rowland)
12 mins. A grubber is angled towards Kildunne’s wing who jabs the ball back infield with quick thrust of the outside of her right boot. This has Italy retreating to cover but they are all second best to Rowland who dabs it down.
Harrison adds two more.
10 mins. The home side keep the ball on the park at the restart and this bonus is built on with a decent steal of the ball from an England ruck. The possession is untidy, including when England snatch it back and knock it on. Italy can’t hold up their own scrum after this, unfortunately
TRY! Italy 0 – 14 England (Amy Cockayne)
8 mins. The blue scrum creaks and folds under pressure, which the ref decides warrants an England penalty, but the all is out and away. THis leads to another penalty near the 22 for Italian defenders not rolling away. The ball is despatched to touch for a lineout and a simple catch and drive allows Cockayne to smash over and score.
Harrison converts.
6 mins. The home side decide to ram a stick in their own spokes by booting the restart out on the full. England will have a scrum on the centre spot.
TRY! Italy 0 – 7 England (Marlie Packer)
4 mins. A return to the 22 pulls the Italy defence in narrow and that is all the opportunity Harrison needs to find space on the right with a cross kick that Packer dives on to score.
Conversion added.
2 mins. Italy struggle to get out of their own 22, with a clever Lucy Packer chip into the corner pinning them back. The ball is won back by the Red Roses and they are soon up to the Italian line for Burton to force over the whitewash. She’s held up by a tenacious defence, but this simply brings a goal-line drop out and more England pressure.
Kick Off!
The ball is sent deep into Italian territory and we’re undeway
Can the Italian women join the men and make 2026 the year of a double first ever win over England? We’re about to find out.
The teams are on their way out, but not before Helena Rowland emerges from the tunnel alone to take the applause on the occasion of her fiftieth cap.
Pre-match reading
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Teams
Italy are unchanged in the backs as Fabio Rosselli sticks with the personnel from the impressive Scotland win. The pack is a different story, with Alessandra Frangipani returning in the second row and Beatrice Veronese coming into the back row.
John Mitchell makes several changes to the England side. Emma Sing and Mia Venner come into the back three, with Ellie Kildunne returning to the wing berth where she caused damage to Scotland a few weeks ago. Helena Rowland earns her 50th cap in midfield alongside Megan Jones, while up front there’s a stable front row of Kelsey Clifford, Amy Cokayne and Maud Muir. Demelza Short continues in the back row; while there’s interest on the bench with a potential debut for flanker Haidee Head.
A very late injury to Maddie Feaunati brings Haineala Lutui into the side, with Abi Burton shifting to Number 8 and another debutant in Christiana Balogun added to the subs.
Italy
15 Vittoria Ostuni Minuzzi, 14 Aura Muzzo, 13 Michela Sillari, 12 Beatrice Rigoni Mannini, 11 Alyssa D’Inca, 10 Veronica Madia, 9 Sofia Stefan; 1 Silvia Turani, 2 Vittoria Vecchini, 3 Vittoria Zanette, 4 Valeria Fedrighi , 5 Alessandra Frangipani, 6 Beatrice Veronese, 7 Alissa Ranuccini, 8 Elisa Giordano.
Replacements: Chiara Cheli, Gaia Maris, Gaia Dosi, Giordana Duca, Francesca Sgorbini, Alia Bitonci, Emma Stevanin, Francesca Granzotto.
England
15 Emma Sing, 14 Mia Venner, 13 Megan Jones, 12 Helena Rowland, 11 Ellie Kildunne, 10 Zoe Harrison, 9 Lucy Packer; 1 Kelsey Clifford, 2 Amy Cokayne, 3 Maud Muir, 4 Haineala Lutui, 5 Delaney Burns, 6 Demelza Short, 7 Marlie Packer, 8 Abi Burton.
Replacements: Connie Powell, Mackenzie Carson, Sarah Bern, Christiana Balogun, Haidee Head, Flo Robinson, Holly Aitchison, Claudia Moloney-MacDonald
Preamble
It is certainly true that since 2024, Italy have improved consistently under Fabio Roselli’s stewardship. This has been perhaps most obvious this year as the head coach refreshed his squad with some younger personnel then even with a couple of defeats the promising performances continued, plus the bonus of the walloping of Scotland in the last round.
However, Le Azzurre and Roselli must now place this optimism fully in the path of the killdozer that is England. There were predictions coming into the tournament, not without some logical foundation, that due to injuries, some ageing players and a slight drop-off in form, John Mitchell’s team may not chew up everything in their way with the same cataclysmic gusto. Those predictions were wrong, and today Italy must contend with the Red Roses taking another opportunity to revel in contradicting this wrongness. The truth is they remain terrifyingly brilliant enough, as always.
Such is the nature of modern discourse on a number of matters that there is often a need to point out that two things can be true at the same time. Italy are about to find out.