The conditions made it difficult to play attractive rugby and the outcome was always going to be determined by the contest amongst the two sets of forwards. And here is where the Italians could justifiably claim to have a pack with far more international experience than ours.
The last two contests between the teams in Rome only saw victory by five and four point margins.
Pre-match the pundits suggested that the Italian forward power would give them the edge but we actually we had the upper hand in the scrums and secured our fair share of possession from the lineouts.
We felt comfortable with our ability to defend or line and so the two tries we conceded just prior to half time came as a shock – and, to be fair, even the Italians could not claim that they were the result of their creative endeavours!
Unlike last week at Murrayfield, we were culpable of conceding too many penalties and found ourselves a further three points adrift at the beginning of the second half. Yet this seemed to ignite us and we upped the tempo of our game and were rewarded with Charlie’s charge down try and Owen’s great conversion.
The introduction of Lee Dickson and Ben Morgan upped the tempo further and we were beginning to ask questions of their defence. Unfortunately we were unable to extend our lead to more than four points and so concentration was required right up to the final whistle.
We all know that we will have to raise our game for our next round of matches if we are to challenge for honours in this year’s Six Nations but with two away victories under our belt, a growing awareness of what is required at this level and a team spirit that is there for all to see, we are confident that we can be a match the best.