This was no upset. Italy deservedly won 23-18 to earn their first ever win over England. History made at the 33rd attempt, offering Italy tangible proof of progress. For England, this result leaves desolation and confusion for where they go from here — Questions have to be asked of this regime.
Italy had the momentum, and control for much of this match. This was a win built on bravery and heart, but also structure and complete faith in what they’d set out to do.
On the opposite side, there was talk of this being a pivotal match for Steve Borthwick but England’s discipline let him and the team down.
They have suffered three defeats on the bounce and with France waiting in line, they’ll likely finish fifth with four defeats in what was meant to be a competition where they were challenging for the Grand Slam.
Shock, despair, embarrassment, frustration — all emotions are subjective from an England perspective, but this is one of English rugby’s lowest moments.
We must focus on Italy first. This is their moment in the sun. Rome loves a bit of history, and this group have etched their name in Italian rugby immortality. There are so many snapshots which sum this match up, but take their winning try.
England had battled with 13 men on the field, their leader in the sin-bin, and Italy waited for their moment and executed it perfectly.
It’s the definition of insanity to try the same thing over and over again expecting different results, so having hammered at England’s line in vain, they turned to the wing.
Paolo Garbisi floated a beautiful cross-kick to Monty Ioane on the flank, he brought in the outstanding Tommaso Menoncello who bounced through England’s flailing arms, hammered over Elliot Daly and then put Leonardo Marin away for the match-winning score.
And all this when just a couple of years ago, folk were talking about relegation and Italy’s place in the championship needing to have some jeopardy riding on it.
Well fast-forward to 2026, Wales are in the doldrums, England are quickly joining them and Italy have put together a championship where they beat Scotland, ran Ireland within a whisker, gave France some bruises and then knocked over England 35 years after they first met back in the 1991 World Cup.
In Six Nations terms, they’ve been waiting for this moment ever since they took their first steps in the newly-expanded championship back in 2000. So it’s this batch of players with immortals like Sergio Parisse watching on have achieved what for so long eluded them.
And they deserved it. Italy were better in every facet of the match other than the scrum — a familiar trend for England.
Menoncello is just wondrous to watch and took his try beautifully in the first half but this was about the collective: unwavering faith in one another and an ability to find courage in the deepest realms of their being when every sinew must have been screaming for relief.
Their tears flowed before the full time whistle blew, but while they were looking around in disbelief once Garbisi hammered the ball into touch to bring things to a close, England looked shellshocked.
This defeat raises grave questions over where Steve Borthwick’s England are heading. Jamie George — who was a rare bright spark in this unwanted slice of history — said earlier in the week that change would be the worst idea possible.
But something has to change to get England back on track. Heading into the championship we were regarding England as potential Six Nations winners. Fast-forward to the penultimate week and they’ve lost three from four.
Despite the mass-changes Borthwick made to the team and altered gameplan as they took to the skies, this was a familiar sight. With tries from Tommy Freeman and Tom Roebuck giving them a 12-10 lead at half time, you expected England would push on.
But instead their discipline disintegrated. When Sam Underhill was shown a yellow card for a shoulder to the head in the 54th minute, Italy already had a man in the bin. Any advantage had been lost, but England had an eight-point lead.
Three minutes after Underhill had been binned, Garbisi made it a five-point match and Maro Itoje followed Underhill eight minutes later for an offence at the breakdown as his elbow knocked the ball out of Alessandro Fusco’s hands.
“[Discipline] is costing us. It’s been a significant factor in games this championship,” Borthwick said afterwards. He’s not wrong.
England were down to 13, and their foothold in the match slipped, and Italy pounced, undeterred by the weight of history.
“England looked desperate, searching for help, and there was none to be found,” Matt Dawson said on the BBC: That summed it up perfectly.
England flailed, Italy pushed on, scored that try from Marin and closed the match out. History made, and deservedly so.
As we head into Round 5, Italy are looking to finish in their highest place in the Six Nations, while England are looking to avoid the wooden spoon.
That’s why we love this championship, and it’s been one for the ages this year. Rome is going to have some party tonight celebrating this wonderful achievement and how Italy deserve to enjoy this. For England, you wonder where they’ll go from here. This has to be the nadir.
