England will be looking to keep their hopes of claiming the 2019 Six Nations alive when they take on Italy on Saturday the 9th of March.
The English will be looking for the full-five point haul from their clash with the Italians in a bid to keep their slim hopes of lifting the coveted Six Nations trophy alive.
This is by no means an insurmountable task but the English will need to be at their best as the Italians have proved a rather tough nut to crack at times this season, with Connor O’Shea’s men giving the Irish a real run for their money in Round 3.
England v Italy
Saturday 9 March
Twickenham Stadium
18:45
To Win (80 Mins)
England 1/50
Draw 66/1
Italy 20/1
*Forecast Odds
Handicap
England (-35.5) 9/10
Italy (+35.5) 9/10
*Forecast Handicap
England
Eddie Jones’ men suffered a hammer blow to their title aspirations last time out as they went down 21-13 to the Welsh. They will now need either Scotland – who play Wales in Saturday’s opener – or Ireland – who take on Wales in the final round of the tournament – to defeat the Welsh in order for them to have a chance of claiming Six Nations glory.
The English have had a rather peculiar campaign putting in a marvellous opening day performance against the Irish, which they won 20-32, and then exploiting a weak French side during their Round 2 44-8 victory. They then followed this up with a rather immature showing against the Welsh where poor decision making and ill-discipline cost them severely.
Another reason for their poor showing against the Welsh was the form of fly-half Owen Farrell who was well bellow his usual high standards. I won’t be surprised to see the Saracens star rested here as he looked mentally fatigued in his last run out.
Italy
While the Italians horrendous Six Nations losing streak has continued this year, there have been signs of improvement from the Azzurri, especially on the attacking side of their game. Connor O’Shea’s men have managed to score two tries or more in their first three games, which is decent considering these three fixtures were against Wales, Scotland and Ireland.
The Italians have been sloppy on defence, however, and have already shipped 85 points in their opening three games at an average of 28.3 points per game. O’Shea will know that his side are never going to win games against Tier 1 opposition with such a leaky defence, and he will have been doing all he can to sure up their defensive line during the recent break.
Verdict: England (-35.5) 9/10 *Forecast Handicap
When these two sides met last season England managed to register a 15-46 victory away from home. I can see them putting a slightly bigger score over the Italians at Twickenham this weekend.
Written by Darry Worthington for Hollywoodbets
