Italy vs England – RBS Six Nations betting – Flying Flutey favoured over Flood

England will be looking for a strong performance from their inexperienced pack in their second Six Nations match of the 2010 campaign. After opening successfully against Wales, England now need to build upon the foundations which were laid down in the match at Twickenham. It won’t be the same side taking the field in Italy, as Toby Flood will drop to the bench in favour of Riki Flutey, who was chosen to start against the Welsh, but picked up an injury prior to the match. New Zealand born Flutey, who finished last season’s tournament as joint top try-scorer, is the key man in the English three quarters, as he is widely regarded as being the inspirational flair player that England have so desperately been missing. He will add a dynamic running game, which not only means that he will add an extra individual spark, his presence will have a knock on effect on Jonny Wilkinson, who won’t have to sit so defensively deep and rely on his kicking game.

With Flutey being more offensively minded than Flood, it will allow the English backs to be more aggressive in attacking the gain line, and in order to feed him properly and get the best from him, he will be feed on a quicker, more advanced platform. It means that Wilkinson should have a lot more time on the ball, as long as the feeds remain quick coming from the break down. The match against Italy will be a physical test up front for England, as the Italians showed their muscle against Ireland in their defeat to the defending Six Nations champions. The battle will likely be carried up front for a large part of the early stages, as that is the kind of thing which can sap the strength out of the Italians, allowing England’s running backs to come in the game more in the second half.

After some doubts with knocks and bangs to a few key players, boss Martin Johnson will field much the same side as he did against Wales, with only Flutey and Dan Cole being tactical replacements. England’s prop David Wilson looked one of the weaker links in the game against Wales, and now he has made way for the exciting young prospect of Leicester’s Cole, who gets his first start in an England shirt.

As much as England would like to express themselves in their much promised role of running rugby, the weather in Rome is likely to hamper any plans of that. It has already been snowing, and there is heavy rain due on Sunday. There will be no room to cover the stadium, so fitness up front could be one of the key deciding factors in the game. England are going for power, as well as looking to improve the cohesion within the forwards. There is plenty of experience on the bench for Johnson to call on in the latter stages, and it is hard to see Italy posing any real threat to the English, if England stick to the plan and don’t get complacent. While the Twickenham victory over Wales was comprehensive on the score board, they still let Wales back into the game when they should have been dead and buried, which took the gloss of the result a little bit.

Italy still look to have to come quite a way when trying to get points on the board in the Six Nations. Italian coach Nick Mallett has made a couple of changes from the Irish game, in which the Italians lacked any real impetus going forward, and sucked Ireland into a dour, uneventful second half. The Italians are yet to beat England in the Six Nations, despite coming close in 2008 when England were arguably going through one of their worst spells of international rugby. Johnson’s hopes is that he can drag his nation back to the top of the World, buy building a team which can play with freedom in the backs, and bond together in the inexperienced front row.

Match Prices
England to win: 1/9 at Blue Square
Draw: 40/1 at Bet365
Italy to win: 10/1 at Sporting Bet