England Under 20s return to The Rec to face Italy in their penultimate Six Nations match. Mark Mapletoft’s side are close to Grand Slam glory after winning their opening three matches.
Forwards coach Andy Titterell and captain Tom Burrow previewed the clash and urged the importance of not getting complacent. The coach spoke on the threat that ‘Gli Azzurri’ could pose and the preparation that the team have done this week.
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“We’ve tried to focus just on ourselves, leading into this game. Where Italy have been over the last couple of years, they’ve had big forward packs, dominant set pieces and certainly made us to work for our wins.
“Last year, we were fortunate enough to have the opportunity to play them at U19s level last year as well.
“Some of those players have transitioned into their 20s squad, but I think in terms of what may come at the weekend, I know we had a big wing win against Scotland, they had a big loss against France, so I have no doubt that they would be wanting to put a few wrongs right against us.
We’re playing at home; they’ll probably think that they haven’t got a lot to lose. They’d want to knock us off our perch. If we’re focused, I’m sure that it will be an exciting game of rugby to watch.”
As someone who has played at the highest level himself, having won the Premiership with Sale Sharks in 2006 and being in the 2005 British and Irish Lions tour of South Africa, Titterell spoke on his coaching style and the influence that his playing career had on it.
“I’d probably say a fair bit of it . I like to play the game pretty fast and expansive. I love the collision side of the game as well.
“I think how we try and push and promote things within the pathway is around a lot of our ball movement not coming too predictable.
“Allowing forwards to get their hands on the ball and being able to express themselves from a forwards perspective, and then obviously the backs will continue to do.
https://static.smartframe.io/embed.js“What they normally do in in the games, looking for looking for space, identifying it, and then obviously trying to execute.
“But I think, certainly, what we’d like to try and do within the pathway is not pigeonhole forwards to just to be runners, is to be able to get the hands on the ball and actually go out there and play and enjoy playing, because that’s what the game is about, in my eyes.”
Captain again for the fourth game in a row, Sale second row Tom Burrow is a very well-rounded player and seems to fit into Titterell’s ideal prototype. The lock spoke on his coach’s impact personally:
“He’s got such a breadth of knowledge around so many different areas of the game that that we just enjoy sort of learning.
https://static.smartframe.io/embed.js“I know for myself, being in camps is an opportunity to pick up and just grow as a player and learn as much as I can.”
Burrow plays for the team that his coach spent the bulk of his career, and spoke on the benefits of having a coach who knows the environment at Sale:
“Having a coach that’s experienced a similar environment, but also others in the country and elsewhere, is massive for us, to learn and pick up different bits and bobs.”
With it being a development team instead of a senior one, Titterell talked about the differences in objectives, with winning being slightly less of a priority:
“We’re about the development of these guys. The longevity in the sport for these lads is that when they leave the pathway, they go on have successful senior careers with their clubs and then hopefully push on into international honours.”
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QUIZ: Can You Name the England XV that Won the 2020 Six Nations?
England last won the Six Nations in 2020, in what was a crowning achievement during the Eddie Jones era. Coming off the back of the 2019 Rugby World Cup Final heartbreak, England bounced back to win their seventh Six Nations title since the competition’s Italian expansion in 2000.
England secured the trophy with a win in Rome, as they handed Italy a one-sided 34-5 bonus point defeat. We are challenging you to remember who started for England that day, as the match was played in front of an empty stadium during the Covid-19 Pandemic.
You have five minutes to provide your answers, good luck!
https://kwizly.com/embed/WwL3AO.js