{"id":459192,"date":"2026-03-05T16:44:15","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T16:44:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/459192\/"},"modified":"2026-03-05T16:44:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T16:44:15","slug":"there-is-no-worse-duo-to-watch-england-getting-thrashed-with-than-ronan-ogara-and-peter-omahony","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/459192\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018There is no worse duo to watch England getting thrashed with than Ronan O\u2019Gara and Peter O\u2019Mahony\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Italy<\/a> will give England<\/a> a challenge. There is no doubt about that. It\u2019s not hyperbole to say this is a huge\u00a0game for\u00a0Steve Borthwick\u00a0and his England project. Realistically, if they lose the game, the headlines won\u2019t be\u00a0about how\u00a0\u2018brilliant, improving Italy\u00a0have pulled of a historic win\u2019, it\u2019ll be, \u2018England have sunk so low they\u2019ve now had their first ever loss to Italy\u2019.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Even though Italy have beaten\u00a0fellow giants\u00a0France, Australia<\/a> and Ireland<\/a> before, that will be the\u00a0narrative.\u00a0On Saturday night, it\u00a0will be the main sports headline on the\u00a0news\u00a0and the back pages of the newspapers on Sunday.\u00a0You see, the\u00a0Six Nations is\u00a0almost\u00a0an outlier in rugby.\u00a0It gets a far,\u00a0far bigger audience than day-to-day domestic rugby.\u00a0Sports fans\u00a0who only tune in once-a-year\u00a0or\u00a0watch the knock-out stages of\u00a0a\u00a0World Cup\u00a0or Lions\u00a0Test\u00a0Series. These casual fans will be saying, \u2018Cripes, England have been beaten by Italy!\u2019\u00a0because\u00a0they won\u2019t have any idea just how much Italy have\u00a0come on.\u00a0<\/p>\n

All the outside noise of the last couple of weeks, which is building to a cacophony, could play in\u00a0England\u2019s\u00a0favour, because\u00a0while they had developed off the back of those 12 wins\u00a0and\u00a0developed into a much better side,\u00a0with hype building around them, I think deep down, England haven\u2019t been comfortable with a \u2018favourites\u00a0tag\u2019.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s funny,\u00a0I hate doing predictions, but\u00a0ahead of the Ireland game,\u00a0I said England would win and so did every other TNT pundit. Post-match,\u00a0it\u00a0looks\u00a0like you\u2019re\u00a0at best biased and at worst showing arrogance\u00a0against Ireland but\u00a0even\u00a0pre-match chatting to Ronan O\u2019Gara, he said, \u2018if England get this right, I\u2019m going to be watching through my hands\u2019.\u00a0Given what transpired, I can\u00a0tell you\u00a0there is no worse duo to watch England getting thrashed with that Ronan O\u2019Gara and Peter O\u2019Mahony. The loveliest of blokes,\u00a0granted, and brilliant game analysts\u00a0but it\u00a0wasn\u2019t\u00a0a quiet watch!\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"IrelandIreland enjoyed a special day at the Allianz Stadium, Twickenham crushing England (Photo MB Media\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

England have\u00a0evolved\u00a0their\u00a0game,\u00a0but\u00a0they seem to play at their best\u00a0when they have the fear. Against Wales, there was a bit of fear because everyone had\u00a0written\u00a0Steve Tandy\u2019s men\u00a0off completely,\u00a0but they came through convincingly, but against Scotland, everyone was saying, \u2018England are\u00a0clear\u00a0favourites\u2019,\u00a0despite recent history. And\u00a0we\u00a0all\u00a0know what happened\u00a0next. Then with Ireland in indifferent form, they were expected to bounce back and were even worse, so there is\u00a0genuine, not confected,\u00a0fear going to Rome.<\/p>\n

For me, the biggest\u00a0disappointment over the past few weeks has\u00a0come from the senior leaders in the team.\u00a0If you look at performances, those big name players aren\u2019t the one\u2019s topping the charts.\u00a0Against Ireland, I listened to the game on RefLink and\u00a0there was no buzz. All I could hear was Irish accents.\u00a0There was no, \u2018we\u2019ve got them here, lads\u2019 and\u00a0whipping up some energy. It felt\u00a0England players were retreating into their shell. It also wasn\u2019t great that when\u00a0George Ford missed\u00a0those two kicks to touch,\u00a0the only player to put their arm round him was Henry Pollock<\/a>, who at 21\u00a0was\u00a0making his first start!<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a\u00a0real onus\u00a0on the leadership group\u00a0stepping up\u00a0this weekend. We can\u2019t forget what Maro has been through in the last few weeks, losing his mother,\u00a0while\u00a0Gengey has made\u00a0mistakes,\u00a0but their pride\u00a0will have dented and\u00a0I\u2019d expect a big performance from those guys.\u00a0<\/p>\n

If Italy\u00a0get one or two steals early, England\u2019s\u00a0fragile\u00a0confidence\u00a0will be exposed\u00a0and they\u2019ll\u00a0go for the jugular.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s funny because\u00a0England would die for a forward pack that is giving them the sort of platform\u00a0Italy\u00a0have\u00a0right now. Italy have\u00a0almost\u00a0taken the blueprint in their style of play from South Africa. They are physically dominant up front\u00a0and rock ball-carriers backwards with their tackles. Their\u00a0scrum is a\u00a0serious\u00a0weapon, with Ferrari purring. Their lineout defence is good,\u00a0while\u00a0they\u2019ve been scoring from lineout mauls. I also like the variety of their kicking game, which suits their\u00a0wingers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tactically,\u00a0Gonzo Quesada and his coaching team have been\u00a0really astute\u00a0about analysing the opposition and seeing where\u00a0the\u00a0opportunities lie.\u00a0They have\u00a0all\u00a0the\u00a0fundamentals\u00a0for\u00a0a\u00a0physical game but there\u2019s plenty of invention and individual skill\u00a0to complement it.\u00a0As for stars, after three rounds,\u00a0Tommaso\u00a0Menoncello looks like one of the players of the tournament so far\u00a0and lesser heralded but with Ross Vintcent<\/a> and Sebastian Negri injured, Manuel\u00a0Zuliani has been an absolute revelation\u00a0in the backrow, as has Exeter second row Andrea Zambonin<\/a> in the air where they\u2019re getting to launch attacks.\u00a0If Italy\u00a0get one or two steals early, England\u2019s\u00a0fragile\u00a0confidence\u00a0will be exposed\u00a0and they\u2019ll\u00a0go for the jugular.<\/p>\n

\"ItalyItaly have a good lineout attack and defence and they will go after England if they sense weakness (Photo By Seb Daly\/Sportsfile via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Italy have been amazing given they\u2019ve had\u00a0several injuries.\u00a0If you went back to\u00a0the\u00a0days of\u00a0Castrogiovanni, Lo Cicero and Parisse, if they were missing,\u00a0Italy would\u00a0invariably\u00a0fold,\u00a0but they\u2019ve almost played better without some of those stars. It shows they are really well-coached and they have a\u00a0clear\u00a0identity.<\/p>\n

As\u00a0for\u00a0England, Maro\u00a0said\u00a0after Ireland\u00a0that\u00a0the accuracy\u00a0just\u00a0hasn\u2019t been there. They were awful against Ireland but for the first 15 minutes I thought their attack had looked like they were going to really click. However, all that rhythm and momentum was scuppered by unforced errors.\u00a0Right now, they\u2019re like a football team creating chances in the penalty box and keep missing.\u00a0Indeed, they have had more entries into the 22 than any other team in the Six Nations<\/a> but their conversion rate has been\u00a0poor.\u00a0They just can\u2019t seem to\u00a0get over the line.\u00a0<\/p>\n

If he [Fin Smith] has a brilliant game he could become the top dog heading to the World Cup,\u00a0whereas it was only a matter of weeks ago that people were pinning their hopes on\u00a0George\u00a0[Ford].<\/p>\n

If you look at the selection changes,\u00a0obviously, there\u2019s a few injuries, with Alex Mitchell<\/a> and Ollie Lawrence<\/a> unavailable,\u00a0but\u00a0it\u2019s not quite as straightforward as\u00a0\u2018Borthwick\u2019s just\u00a0ripping up\u00a0the team because of two poor performances\u2019, although\u00a0there\u2019s a\u00a0whiff\u00a0of that.\u00a0It\u2019s about picking the right side to play against Italy, a\u00a0horses for courses\u00a0selection.\u00a0For instance, the\u00a0side they\u2019ll\u00a0pick to play against South Africa<\/a> isn\u2019t necessarily the same side they\u2019d pick to face Australia.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I must say\u00a0I feel a bit sorry for George Ford<\/a> because if he\u2019d had the platform Italy had had\u00a0in the last two games, he\u2019d be laughing. He\u2019s been forced to carry\u00a0into contact himself because he\u2019s under pressure\u00a0but also because he\u2019s not getting the running lines around him and it\u2019s bringing\u00a0hesitancy.\u00a0With mild weather forecast in Rome,\u00a0it could play into Fin Smith\u2019s hands.\u00a0If he has a brilliant game he could become the top dog heading to the World Cup,\u00a0whereas it was only a matter of weeks ago that people were pinning their hopes on\u00a0George\u00a0[Ford]. I\u2019ve been\u00a0hugely impressed by Smith. He is a stronger defender\u00a0and\u00a0just hits\u00a0harder\u00a0than Ford.\u00a0He\u2019s more like \u00a0Jonny Wilkinson or Owen Farrell. He doesn\u2019t soak up tackles or wait for cover, he nails them.\u00a0When you have the\u00a0type of\u00a0squad depth England\u00a0possess,\u00a0it\u2019s a seminal moment for so many players.<\/p>\n

\"FinFin Smith has an opportunity to wrestle the pivotal No 10 shirt off George Ford in Rome (Photo by Warren Little\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

What I want to see in Rome is more leadership and communication. That\u2019s why\u00a0Daly\u2019s selection is shrewd.\u00a0He\u2019s a\u00a0good organiser with a strong on-field voice.\u00a0Ben Spencer, too,\u00a0is renowned\u00a0for his rugby brain and\u00a0as the best box-kicker\u00a0he may give\u00a0Ioane or Lynagh\u00a0a difficult afternoon.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Finally,\u00a0I just wonder how\u00a0Italy\u00a0will\u00a0deal with the\u00a0expectation\u00a0that\u2019s building? I\u2019ve spoken to a few people within Italian rugby circles and they much prefer to be underdogs.\u00a0They don\u2019t like being talked up\u00a0and will be wary of\u00a0believing their own\u00a0hype.\u00a0<\/p>\n

To sum up, in 26 years of the Six Nations,\u00a0is\u00a0this is\u00a0Italy\u2019s\u00a0best chance of beating England? One hundred per cent.\u00a0With the prospect of\u00a0losing three games on the bounce and only a game in Paris against a rampant France<\/a> to save them from England\u2019s worst ever Six Nations, if the players are looking for that fear to drive a performance they won\u2019t have to search too hard to find it, whilst climbing the steps to the pitch at the Stadio Olympico on Saturday afternoon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Italy will give England a challenge. There is no doubt about that. It\u2019s not hyperbole to say this…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":459193,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[5903,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-459192","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-rugby","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459192","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=459192"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459192\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/459193"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=459192"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=459192"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=459192"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}