Men’s Six Nations: England v Italy
Venue: Allianz Stadium, Twickenham Date: Sunday, 9 March Kick-off: 15:00 GMT
Coverage: Listen to match commentary on BBC Sport website and app; follow live text commentary online; watch on ITV1
England captain Maro Itoje has rejected Will Carling’s suggestion that Steve Borthwick’s inexperienced coaching set-up is preventing the side from reaching its potential.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4 on Tuesday, former skipper Carling questioned the “calibre” of the coaching team and whether it was the “best we can put out there”.
England have been criticised for their style of play during the Six Nations despite recovering from an opening round defeat by Ireland with consecutive one-point victories over France and Scotland at home.
Lock Itoje, who was appointed captain by head coach Borthwick before this year’s tournament, said he disagreed with Carling’s sentiment.
“With all due respect to Will, I don’t necessarily agree or accept that characterisation of our coaching staff,” the 30-year-old told BBC Sport.
“I have been unbelievably impressed with how they have gone about their business and coached us.
“The players work really hard but the coaches, trust me, they work extremely hard.
“My experience of them has been nothing but positive. I think most people can see an improvement in the team and a large part of that is down to the work the coaches have done and the positions they are putting us in. I think we are tracking in the right direction.”
‘England can hurt Italy if they’re more ambitious in attack’
Borthwick is leading an international team for the first time, having previously held coaching roles with England and Japan before guiding Leicester Tigers to the Premiership title in 2022.
Attack coach Richard Wigglesworth and Kevin Sinfield, who began as defensive lead before moving into a skills role, joined Borthwick from the Tigers backroom.
Defence coach Joe El-Abd is also working in his first international job, combining the role alongside his responsibilities with second-tier French side Oyonnax until the end of the season, while 33-year-old scrum coach Tom Harrison is younger than hooker Jamie George, who will win his 100th cap against Italy on Sunday.
Asked whether it was easy to ignore noise from outside England’s camp, Itoje said: “It’s a requirement.
“We play a public sport, in front of 80,000 at Allianz Stadium and millions at home every time we pull on an England jersey.
“We want people to be engaged with rugby and have an opinion because if they don’t, it probably means they don’t care but as players, what we need to do is focus on what we deem important. That is the skill of anybody who lives a relatively public life.
“People will have an opinion on what you do but what really matters is the opinion you have and the opinion of those in your circles.”
Itoje’s backing of the coaching staff was echoed by utility back Elliot Daly, who has been rewarded for his impressive form off the bench with a starting berth at full-back against the Azzurri.
Responding to Carling’s comments, Daly told BBC Sport: “I don’t think that is true.
“The coaches have been around this environment for a while, especially Wiggy, Steve and Kev. As a group, they work really well together.
“The relationship the players have with the coaching staff is a really good one.”
‘We are aspiring to reach an 80-minute performance’
Itoje does accept, however, that England did not perform to their capabilities last time out, despite beating Scotland to regain the Calcutta Cup for the first time in four years.
The hosts were outscored by three tries to one at Allianz Stadium and were grateful for Finn Russell missing a late conversion attempt that would have secured victory for Scotland.
England remain in contention to win the title as they return to their home on Sunday to face an Italy side who have never beaten them and Itoje says his players are targeting a complete performance.
“We didn’t perform as well as we wanted to in all areas but some of what we did was brilliant,” added Itoje.
“That was a fixture we hadn’t been successful in for a number of years so to get the Calcutta Cup back at Twickenham is a good achievement.
“Our discipline was OK but we would like to tidy it up, and we would like to get our attack a bit sharper. In order to do that we need to win more territory.”
Asked what progress would look like against Italy, Itoje added: “Every time you step on the field you are aspiring to reach an 80-minute performance. Not many teams do it because it is so difficult.
“There are times when the opposition is on top and it’s about how you wrestle back control. We want to take a step forward in all the areas we have spoken about, whether it’s set-piece, kicking game, defence or attack.”
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