Itoje ‘won’t forget’ defeat to Scotland
MARO ITOJE will be forever haunted by the 11-6 defeat to Scotland which saw England make the worst possible start to their Six Nations title defence.
The Scots claimed a first win at Twickenham since 1983 on the 150th anniversary of international rugby’s oldest fixture.
England produced one of the most inept performances of the Eddie Jones era and forward Itoje said: ‘You never really forget these days, these moments, and to be honest I don’t really want to forget them. I want to move on from it but I don’t want to forget it as it keeps you sharp.’
Head coach Jones said: ‘We will be looking into everything, we’ll be forensic in our analysis of what we did in terms of preparing the team and trying to find ways to do it better.’
ENGLAND’S players and not Eddie Jones are to blame for a dismal display in their Six Nations defeat to Scotland, insists Maro Itoje.
The defending champions failed to fire as they kicked off their campaign at Twickenham, with their listless forwards unable to gain a foothold in the game and an outof-sorts Owen Farrell struggling to launch a talented backline that was reduced to a spectator’s role.
In stark contrast, Scotland’s pack, centred around Jonny Gray and Hamish Watson, were magnificent while Finn Russell, Stuart Hogg and Cameron Redpath provided the fireworks behind the
We have to roll up our sleeves and get ready for some hard work
scrum. The visitors were well worth the 11-6 win, their first at Twickenham since 1983.
Boss Jones pointed the finger of blame at himself as his team conceded a mass of early penalties and made fewer breaks than Hogg alone, but Itoje believes the players must take responsibility.
‘We’re the ones on the field, we’re the ones responsible for our own performance,’ said the Saracens second row. ‘We didn’t give the best account of ourselves and as players we have to do better because that wasn’t good enough.
‘All the players know it wasn’t up to scratch. It’s a tough lesson to take but we’ve got four more games to control our destiny.
‘I don’t know if shock is the right word – we know how Scotland play, we know the intensity they bring, but we were off the mark, unfortunately. We were off the
mark and again we need to get better at our basics. The basics of our game, we didn’t bring.
‘We have to roll up our sleeves and get ready for some hard work and honest self-reflection, and move forward.
‘The core of this team has been together for a few years now and is very tight. We are going to stay together and stay strong and be there for one another. The most
important thing is what we do next and how we move forward and that’s what I’m excited about – how we can galvanise ourselves and move forward.
‘I would hope if we have this opportunity again, we’ll see an improvement in our performance. Congratulations to Scotland, they hustled hard and fought hard. They were deserving winners.’
Italy’s arrival next Saturday
offers the opportunity for England to relaunch their campaign and Farrell believes the pain of defeat to Scotland will act as a catalyst.
‘It is very disappointing to come out this side of the result but it’s not difficult to galvanise this team,’ said the captain.
‘I think this will light a fire in us for the rest of the tournament, not just waiting to see what happens but making it happen.’