Italy contained what had been
shaping up to be a mammoth defeat to England by employing a
controversial tactical trick at Twickenham Sunday.
Six Nations leaders England extended their tier one winning
run to 17, just two behind New Zealand's 2016 record, but were
unable to notch an expected crushing triumph a week after Italy
lost by a record 63-10 to Ireland in Rome.
Before eventually running out 36-15 losers, Italy were 10-5
up at half-time after frustrating England by not committing
players to the breakdown and thereby negating the formation of a
ruck and enabling them to stand amid their opponents' offensive
line, apparently but not actually offside.
England coach Eddy Jones called the tactic "like bowling
underarm (in cricket) to stop a six being hit".
Amid widespread criticism of the ploy, Italy coach Conor
O'Shea said "why is it always us?", noting that both Australia
and Toulouse had employed the tactic in recent games.
"We came here to win," he said.
The Times, which like much of the British press has been
voicing doubts as to wheter the Azzurri deserve to stay in the
Six Nations, praised the tactic, calling it "creative and in the
rule-book".
The Economist called it a "dogged act of rebellion" that
would have pleased the game's inventor, William Webb Ellis.
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