England 20 Italy 7: Vickery's men unable to rest easy after mauling by Italy's heavy mob

There are deep concerns within the England hierarchy that all 22 players pencilled in for the devilish Six Nations trip to Dublin in a dozen days' time will be denied a rest this weekend. If the Twickenham crowd are struggling to understand these fears, it is because they believe the world champions took a day off when they should have been playing Italy. That's Twickenham for you. Until someone gatecrashes the West Stand with a megaphone and announces to its inhabitants that Clive Woodward and Martin Johnson went the same way as the Empire some years ago, these people will continue to suffer from delusions of superiority.

As Italy were 20 per cent better than even Brian Ashton anticipated - and the England coach has forgotten more about Azzurri rugby than Sir Bufton-Tufton and his good lady wife will ever know - it is reasonable to assume that they were 100 per cent better than many of the paying public imagined in their worst nightmares. At least four of the visiting pack and probably more would have made a very strong case for inclusion in their hosts' starting line-up, and, having been shamed into a big performance by an embarrassing false start against the French a week previously, the heavy mob succeeded in knocking Phil Vickery and company clean off their game.

Even Jonny Wilkinson looked ordinary, if not quite as ordinary as the vast majority of those around him. Danny Grewcock was an honourable exception, as was Harry Ellis, whose last 160 minutes as an international scrum-half have made an international scrum-half of him.

Presented with the freedom of Twickenham against the Scots in the opening round of the tournament, he now found himself under lock and key in the dungeon as the magnificent Azzurri back row swooped and swarmed and swashbuckled their way around the field. In response, Ellis embraced the less pleasurable side of his trade with striking enthusiasm, tackling and scrambling and tidying up behind his pack forwards as though his life depended on it.

It was a hard game for England, debilitating as well as frustrating. So what happens next? For some reason lost in the mists of rugby politics, there is now no bar on elite personnel taking the field within seven days of a forthcoming Test - in other words, nothing can stop the six Premiership clubs scheduled to play next Sunday from picking their strongest teams, which would include 13 of the 22-man squad on duty against Italy. Unless the Rugby Football Union negotiate a deal, Ashton's preparation for Croke Park will be no preparation at all.

"If people play next Sunday, we won't be able to train on the Monday or Tuesday ahead of the Ireland match," said Rob Andrew who, as elite rugby director, is charged with the not inconsiderable task of finding a way through the thicket.

"We would train on the Wednesday, but not on the Thursday because of travelling. In effect, our single day's training would be set against the fortnight available to the Irish. It would be a massive disadvantage. All I can do is make a request to the clubs, but I'd be very surprised if there was a collective agreement. It's far more likely that decisions will be made on a player-by-player basis."

Was it not ludicrous that the seven-day rule could be made to work before the start of the tournament, but not during it? "I didn't write the agreement," Andrew said. But surely the Premiership clubs would commit the public relations version of hara-kiri if they pressed the Wilkinsons and Vickerys into Sabbath duty? "I couldn't possibly comment," he said, delivering an uncanny impersonation of the late, great actor Ian Richardson.

The fixture list has been in the public domain since August, though. Was it really beyond the wit of man to discuss this subject a little earlier? "It was discussed," he replied. "We just didn't make any progress." So there the issue hangs, on the end of a rope. Andrew has no way of knowing what will happen, and Ashton is even more in the dark. "We have lots of work to do before we meet Ireland, and anyone in my position would find it desirable to have people resting up," the coach said. "One training session? It speaks for itself. But it's out of my control, isn't it? There's nothing I can do."

There is not a single English forward who could not use a weekend off, for the Italian pack set about them with a rare relish, especially during a second half the visitors won 7-6. Martin Castrogiovanni was outstanding at tight-head prop; so were Carlo Festuccia at hooker and Marco Bortolami at lock.

As for the loose forwards ... well, if Twickenham sees them again, it will be way too soon. Shorn of the open-side flanker Mauro Bergamasco, the most celebrated among their number, they still managed to shut England down. Josh Sole and Sergio Parisse were formidably strong, the inexperienced Maurizio Zaffiri brave to the point of bonkersness. Behind them, Alessandro Troncon had himself a party.

Yet England won - something Ashton and Vickery were keen to point out as they struggled to surf the wave of unfulfilled public expectation. They won because Wilkinson kicked his goals, almost automotively, and because Vickery and his forwards generated enough momentum in the 15 minutes before half-time to open up a decisive advantage against a side incapable of chasing a game. "The interval came too soon for us," the coach said. "Another 10 minutes might have seen us score a second try and pull away."

The try they did score fell to Jason Robinson, his third in two games since rethinking his decision to retire from Test activity. It was a high-class finish in the left corner; not quite as good as the one he had delivered in the same place, at precisely the same juncture, the week before, but terrific anyway. Bortolami was off the field at the time, kicking his heels as a result of his collapsing of a driving maul close to his own line. The captain felt hard done by, but was not wholly surprised. Italy win a 50-50 decision about as often as the All Blacks roll out of bed and play in the Pacific Islands. Which is to say, never.

Ashton was probably right: England might well have run away with it had the half-time break not stopped them dead. But it was also true to say that Robinson's try had a whiff of the forward pass about it and that this was the home team's first serious attack of the opening period. The fact that they barely managed an attack of any description in the closing period was a worry, and will remain so until they construct something more dynamic in Dublin.

"I blame myself to a degree - I emphasised the importance of field position in the first 20 minutes, and if I overdid it I'll take it on the chin," the coach said. There again, he'd take a 20-7 victory in Ireland any day of the week. Especially if his key players cross the water in a state of advanced knackeration.

England: I Balshaw (Gloucester); J Lewsey (Wasps), M Tindall (Gloucester), A Farrell (Saracens), J Robinson (Sale); J Wilkinson (Newcastle), H Ellis (Leicester); P Freshwater (Perpignan), G Chuter (Leicester), P Vickery (Wasps, capt), L Deacon (Leicester), D Grewcock (Bath), N Easter (Harlequins), M Lund (Sale), M Corry (Leicester). Replacements: M Tait (Newcastle) for Balshaw 40; T Flood (Newcastle) for Tindall, 70; L Mears (Bath) for Chuter, 74; J White (Leicester) for Freshwater, 74; T Palmer (Wasps) for Grewcock, 74; T Rees (Wasps) for Easter, 80.

Italy: R de Marigny (Calvisano); K Robertson (Viadana), G Canale (Clermont Auvergne), M Bergamasco (Stade Français), D Dallan (Stade Français); A Scanavacca (Calvisano), A Troncon (Clermont Auvergne); A Lo Cicero (L'Aquila), C Festuccia (Gran Parma), M Castrogiovanni (Leicester), S Dellape (Biarritz), M Bortolami (Gloucester, capt), J Sole (Viadana), M Zaffiri (Calvisano), S Parisse (Stade Français). Replacements: R Pez (Bayonne) for Scanavacca, 14-21; M Pratichetti (Calvisano) for Dallan, 29; S Perugini (Toulouse) for Lo Cicero, 60; V Bernabo (Calvisano) for Dellape, 74; R Mandelli (Gran Parma) for Zaffiri, 79.

Referee: N Owens (Wales).

Twickenham details

ENGLAND ITALY

6/0 Scrums won/lost 8/0

16/2 Line-outs won/lost 16/2

6 Pens conceded 11

5 Turnovers won 6

121 Passes completed 79

2 Line breaks 1

31 Possession kicked 39

46 Tackles made 77

2 Missed 7

9 Total errors 15

TOP CARRIES

Corry (England) 11

Wilkinson (England) 9

Chuter (England) 8

TOP TACKLERS

Sole (Italy) 10

Canale (Italy) 9

Zaffiri (Italy) 9

MOST OFFLOADS

Pratichetti (Italy) 2

Balshaw (England) 1

Chuter (England) 1

REMAINING FIXTURES

24 Feb: Scotland v Italy; Ireland v England; France v Wales. 10 March: Scotland v Ireland; Italy v Wales. 11 March: England v France. 17 March: Italy v Ireland; France v Scotland; Wales v England.