Crowley: Italy must be more clinical when they get chances

Italy have to be more clinical according to coach Kieran Crowley following their 33-0 defeat to England in Rome. The Azzurri struggled to get into the game in the first half at the Stadio Olimpico, trailing 21-0 at half-time but then enjoyed much more territory and possession in the second half. Ad/> But unfortunately for Crowley and his team, they were unable to turn those opportunities into points, an issue which he knows they need to resolve.

Six NationsSix Nations 2022: England ease past Italy in Rome13/02/2022 AT 17:08 He said: “There were chances, particularly in the second half we had some, and if we had taken some of then we could have kept the scoreline closer but at this level, with chances like that, other teams score and at the moment we don’t. That’s where we need to make a jump in quality. “Against England it was a completely different game compared to last week’s match with France.

At the breakdown, the English chose to stay on their feet and we found it difficult to manage our game from that point.†Italy will now have a break before their Round 3 trip to Dublin, with skipper Michele Lamaro reflecting on the decision to take a five-metre scrum from a penalty late on rather than kicking to touch. The Azzurri had been on top in the set-piece but England got the nudge on and forced the error as the chance went begging. Lamaro said: “There’s a feeling of frustration, we should have done more.

In the end, we chose to take them on in the scrum when perhaps we could have kicked to touch. On that shove they put us under pressure where on the initial engagement we felt that we could do better. We need to work a lot, we are aware of that.