Experience tells Ashton to beware a backlash from injury-hit Azzurri

Brian Ashton understands a thing or two about Italy: fluent in the language, having played club rugby in Rome and Milan, he once coached Viadana in his spare time and still visits the land of the Caesars whenever he gets the chance. Yet if he had never set foot in the country or spoken so much as a word of the lingo, he would still know precisely what to expect from the Azzurri at Twickenham this afternoon as the Six Nations Championship moves into its second round of matches. It does not take a sporting Einstein to spot the potential for 80 minutes of gladiatorial combat, complete with blood and gore.

"It will all come down to what happens between Nos 1 and 8," pronounced England's new head coach yesterday. "I can see it being a fair old battleground. They'll try to frustrate us at the breakdown, they'll play it down the blind side, they'll snipe around the edges, they'll use the box- kick as a means of maintaining pressure.

"What's more, they'll do all these things pretty well if we let them. We've spoken a lot about our mental approach this week, and with good reason. This is one of those games where we might easily cause a lot of trouble for ourselves."

This was not the Ashton of popular misconception, but as the coach keeps reminding those who insist on getting him wrong, he does not see rugby exclusively through the Flash Harry end of the telescope. As if by way of confirmation, he is positively revelling in the grim detail of the weather forecast rather than running scared of it, partly, he explained, because Jonny Wilkinson plays his club rugby in Newcastle and knows more about frostbite than heatstroke, but mostly because he has spent a good deal of time satisfying himself that the England forwards know what's what with regards to this game.

"The line-out will be a major theatre of action," he said, acknowledging the threat posed by an Italian combination that clambered all over the French in Rome last weekend. "I would not, however, describe it as a major concern of mine because I have every confidence in the work of John Wells [his forwards coach] in this area. We'll need to think on our feet, to chop and change our line-outs as and when it becomes necessary. But if we keep our discipline - if we remember that if the referee tells us not to do something, we don't do it - I'd like to think we'll build on last week's victory over Scotland."

One player who will not be building on anything is the Harlequins flanker Nick Easter, for the very good reason that this is his full international debut. "I've hardly noticed him - and I mean that as a massive compliment," Ashton said. "It's as if he's been with us all the time. Nick hasn't stood out as a newcomer at any point."

All of which said something for Phil Vickery's inclusive, everyone-in-it-together style of captaincy. Easter has been whistled up from the back end of beyond only as a result of Joe Worsley's neck trouble, Lewis Moody's shoulder problems and Dan Ward-Smith's grisly knee injury; indeed, he can consider himself fortunate to be playing at all, having been sent from the field during a Premiership match at Bath a fortnight ago. But if Ashton has not found cause to fix him with his schoolmaster's stare during training, he must be up to speed. All he needs to do this afternoon is hold his nerve and do the things he does best.

Which is easier said than done, of course. Still, he has reason to look on the bright side. Had he been really unlucky, he might have found himself mixing it with Mauro Bergamasco, a flanker so rapid that Italy once played him on the wing for a whole championship. As it is, Bergamasco is out of commission as a result of an injury suffered during last week's surprisingly heavy defeat at the hands of the Tricolores. Easter will inevitably see plenty of Sergio Parisse, a No 8 of very high calibre, but it could have been far worse.

Italy have never beaten England. They gave the red-rose types a serious hurry-up during the 1995 World Cup in South Africa and came mighty close to clinching the deal some three years later, in Huddersfield of all places on the planet. In terms of Twickenham fixtures, however, the average scoreline is 53-11 in favour of the home side. To a degree, there has been a touch of the diminishing returns about England's performance in these games, but the Azzurri rarely expect to make significant inroads if they are operating at anything less than full strength.

Unfortunately for them, and for those among the Twickenham regulars who prefer a contest to a cakewalk, they are struggling for bodies. Bergamasco's absence is a desperate blow, as is that of Andrea Masi, so impressive for Biarritz in this season's Heineken Cup. Had Pierre Berbizier, the coach, been blessed with a full hand of players, the starting line-up might have looked very different. There might, for instance, have been places for the full-back David Bortolussi and the wings Pablo Canavosio and Marko Stanojevic. All these have gone the way of Bergamasco, leaving the cupboard depressingly bare.

Still, Ashton expects Berbizier to pull some sort of rabbit out of the hat. "He's the most intelligent coach in the tournament," the Englishman said, not for the first time. "He is a very, very bright operator. The mark of a coach is what he does with what he has. Given the resources available to him, Pierre has done exceptionally well."

Well enough to turn the world and its reigning rugby champions upside down this afternoon? Surely not. While the freezing rain falls on London, the roof could easily fall in on Italy, especially if that Wilkinson character gets an early sight of the posts.

Italy's players to watch

Marco Bortolami

Central to the Azzurri cause as the captain and inspiration behind their imposing pack. While the Leicester tight head Martin Castrogiovanni will be detailed with bringing the English scrum to their knees (or at least keeping Italy off theirs), Bortolami will be the focal point of the visiting line-out. The lock's epic aerial display was the sole bright spot in last week's humbling at French hands. Bortolami is no one-trick pony, being outstanding in the loose and having under-rated hands, and his skills have wooed the West Country since his summer move from Narbonne to Gloucester.

Alessandro Troncon

When in doubt call for the old warhorse - in Troncon, Italy have indeed summoned a stallion. He was his country's record cap-winner, with 90, but his career had seemingly ground to a halt after a heavy defeat to France two years ago. But the coach, Pierre Berbizier, who knows something of the dark arts of scrum-halfery, has recognised the necessity to reintroduce the combativeness and box-kicking excellence of the Clermont-Auvergne veteran into a back line lacking experience and flair. The game has probably already seen the best of the 33-year-old, but Troncon is well capable of one last grand hurrah.

Mirco Bergamasco

You do not become a Stade Français regular without having something about you and Bergamasco the younger has more than most. One of the standout performers of last year's Championship, the inside centre was never given the ball or space to threaten France last week. But Andy Farrell should beware today. On his afternoon, the 24-year-old is a serial line-breaker who can go off either foot and has plenty of toe. Rugby is in the blood and tradition of this long-locked Paduan. Not only is his brother Mauro a current international on the flank, but his father, Arturo, won four caps in the 1970s. And Italy hadn't even heard of rugby then.