Italy turned a lot of heads with their performance at Twickenham on Sunday, as the crowd in attendance who turned up to see Conor O'Shea's men comfortably put to the sword were stunned by the spirited Italian performance... As well as some shocking play from England.
Italy showed huge improvements in many areas of their game but their tactic of not engaging in the ruck is something that really upset former England and Lions scrum-half Matt Dawson, who took to twitter to make his feelings clear.
Dawson claimed that Italy ruined the match by using tactics that World Rugby will be forced to address, before singling Conor O'Shea out for criticism by suggesting he should be ashamed of himself.
At the half-time whistle, he vented his frustration with the England team for their curiously poor start.
Well that just about sums up @EnglandRugby first half. Standing and watching!!! ? on its way from Eddie....
— Matt Dawson (@matt9dawson) February 26, 2017
But at the start of the second half we saw what was really bothering Dawson.
Well done Italy on ruining this international. Now World Rugby have to change the laws because of your inability to compete at this level. ?
— Matt Dawson (@matt9dawson) February 26, 2017
And now a disallowed try because the ruck area is a farce!!! #joke
— Matt Dawson (@matt9dawson) February 26, 2017
Are you lot off your minds. bigger picture is that rugby has been disjointed. How many phases have either side been thru? nightmare to ref!!
— Matt Dawson (@matt9dawson) February 26, 2017
So now Italy can have 2 tacklers but one walks away and it's not a ruck!! Total farce!!!
— Matt Dawson (@matt9dawson) February 26, 2017
Imagine the shambles at all the rugby clubs around the world next weekend!! #shameonyouConor
— Matt Dawson (@matt9dawson) February 26, 2017
The 'Quetion Of Sport' captain faced a lot of criticism for his comments, including from former England fly-half Andy Goode.
@matt9dawson I think you mean congrats on some brilliant tactics and coaching from O'Shea, Catt and Venter mate!
— Andy Goode (@AndyGoode10) February 26, 2017
@matt9dawson to be fair, lots of teams have used this technique, Matt. Chiefs (Waikato) regularly used it last season in Super Rugby.
— Paul Williams (@thepaulwilliams) February 26, 2017
The tactics were completely legal.
During the game, the Six Nations YouTube channel uploaded some clips showing what the Italians were doing at the breakdown:
When presented with the idea that a team like New Zealand would have simply adjusted and nullified the problem, Dawson argued that it was vert difficult to chance tactics mid-game... So, seemingly his issue is with Italy making the game difficult for England.
Eddie Jones' side are better than Italy, a lot better, so why wouldn't they think of something to make it more difficult for their opponents?
It seems like a whinge from Dawson, who, judging by his last tweet on the issue, has recieved some stick in return.
If you don't like me giving a view..... do one #blocked
— Matt Dawson (@matt9dawson) February 26, 2017
Still, in the end England got their bonus point win, so while the minimal margin in terms points difference is not ideal, they still got the job done.
Dawson's worry is that every team will now adopt these tactics and "ruin" the game, but that remains to be seen going forward.
#ShameonyouConor
