All posts tagged: Maro Itoje

Borthwick should stop blaming referees even if England have been unlucky

Borthwick should stop blaming referees even if England have been unlucky

Published by Sam Flores

For someone who claims not to discuss refereeing decisions, England head coach Steve Borthwick has spent a good part of this Championship doing precisely that. The nine yellow cards accumulated by England equals a record previously set by Italy in 2002 while their 55 penalties conceded was also a tournament high. Ellis Genge’s yellow card in the 48-46 defeat by France perfectly illustrates the cost of such rank indiscipline, directly costing England 21 points through a penalty try and then two further tries while the prop was in the sin-bin. Yet England’s real anger was centred around the officiating in the build-up to Louis Bielle-Biarrey’s fourth try – and with some justification. The incident came in the 65th minute with England leading 39-38. As Jack van Poortvliet plays the ball out from the scrum, France flanker François Cros clearly slaps the ball down. Referee Nika Amashukeli immediately calls out penalty advantage for deliberate knock on. After a couple of phases, the television match official Brett Cronan informed Amashukeli that the knock-on was accidental and the …

From the depths of despair, England finally made a stand

From the depths of despair, England finally made a stand

Published by Sam Flores

A fourth try by Bielle-Biarrey – from a kick by Dupont when England thought they had been playing a penalty advantage – swung the momentum again, but there was time for England to make one final assault in the most remarkable fashion, starting with a scrum penalty and then two more penalties coming from line-out mauls, with replacement prop Demba Bamba being sent to the sin-bin. Luke Cowan-Dickie was held up over the line but then another unrelenting attack culminated in a try by Freeman under the posts. Smith’s conversion put England in front and looked to have handed the title to Ireland before Ramos’s kick sealed the most remarkable finish to the most remarkable Six Nations campaign. Match details Scoring sequence: 5-0 Bielle-Biarrey try, 7-0 Ramos con, 7-5 Roebuck try, 12-5 Bielle-Biarrey try, 14-5 Ramos con, 14-10 Murley try, 17-10 Ramos pen, 17-15 Chessum try, 17-17 F Smith con, 17-22 Coles try, 17-24 F Smith con, 17-27 F Smith pen, 24-27 penalty try, 29-27 Bielle-Biarrey try, 31-27 Ramos con, 36-27 Attissogbe try, 38-27 Ramos …

Grieving Maro Itoje backed to give England a lift from the bench against Wales

Grieving Maro Itoje backed to give England a lift from the bench against Wales

Published by Sam Flores

Given what Maro Itoje has been through since the death of his mother in December, it is the right decision by Steve Borthwick not to include him in the starting XV against Wales. Itoje, 31, had missed the start of England’s training camp in Girona in Spain to attend the funeral of mother Florence in Nigeria last Monday – last Wednesday’s training session was particularly intense – and one can only imagine what an emotional day it will be for the Saracens lock at Twickenham on Saturday. You have to go back to 2019 for the last time Itoje did not start a Six Nations match for England and even then, it was only because of a knee injury he sustained in the opening-round win against Ireland in Dublin that would rule him out of the remainder of the championship. Since 2020, when England last won the Six Nations, the Saracens lock has remarkably not only started every game but also played every minute of every game. You expect the minutes he is on the …