Former England prop David Flatman has stressed the importance of beating Italy in Rome in round four of the Six Nations, as the international side looks to repair its damaged reputation.<\/p>\n
Following back-to-back defeats against Scotland and Ireland, England now find themselves under huge scrutiny from the English press and fans alike.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ve looked physically knackered to me the last couple of weeks, and that I find strange. But I also wonder if it\u2019s psychological\u201d, Flatman told The Sports Agents podcast.<\/p>\n
The performances England<\/a> produced were nowhere near the standard expected of a side riding a 12-match winning streak before the Murrayfield game. It\u2019s not just the team\u2019s reputation that\u2019s been hammered; individual players are also getting a hiding from fans.<\/p>\n \u201cGeorge Ford<\/a> was the king of the world three weeks ago, right? So, he\u2019s not suddenly no good. He hasn\u2019t had a great couple of weeks. I\u2019m not sure what fly half could have played for England that looked great in the last two weeks, frankly,<\/p>\n \u201cMy neighbour was speaking to me, Big Ron: \u2018George Ford\u2019s got to go!\u2019 I said, \u2018Mate, you had a poster of him on your wall two weeks ago. Chill out!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n The \u2018six or seven\u2019 England changes Sam Warburton would make versus Italy and the George Ford statistic that \u2018really puzzled\u2019 him<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cMore beef\u201d<\/p>\n Despite the clear lack of form, Flatman doesn\u2019t believe now is the time to panic.<\/p>\n \u201cLots of constituent parts haven\u2019t worked for England, but I don\u2019t buy into the drop everyone and pick fifteen different lads. I\u2019d like a bit more beef, without being too old school.<\/p>\n \u201cI think Maro [Itoje] is working his way back to fitness, and it\u2019s all very well saying, \u2018Don\u2019t pick him, match fitness.\u2019 But I think they are going to pick him, because he\u2019s the captain and he\u2019s got a reasonable history of producing great performances.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite this, the former Bath<\/a> prop believes that certain players will find their positions \u201cunder threat\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cPretty much everyone has been dropped at some point,\u201d continued Flatman<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s all right. That\u2019s not the only change I would make, but I wouldn\u2019t be picking ten different players,<\/p>\n \u201cThey haven\u2019t been good enough. But there are certain players in there you think, \u2018Your reputation is under threat. Let\u2019s see what you offer in Rome.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n