Italy sensing opportunity but England no easy target, says Ioane

March 6 : Italy wing Monty Ioane believes his side have a good opportunity to finally beat England in their Six Nations clash this weekend, though he insists the visitors will be far from an easy target despite recent poor performances.

England are the only Six Nations side Italy have yet to beat, losing all 32 previous meetings between the teams in all competitions, but there is a feeling Saturday's game could be Italy's best chance to end that run.

Steve Borthwick's England arrive in Rome on the back of defeats by Scotland and Ireland, with the coach making nine changes to his starting side against Italy.

"We can't take away from the team that they are because we know what they can bring, especially with the squad they've put out," Ioane said.

"They've completely changed the whole back line, so obviously they're here to bring something. And although they lost heavily against Ireland, it doesn't mean it's going to be an easy target for us.

"The good thing about this game for us is, although we know there's a huge challenge, it's a good opportunity for us to hopefully get this win."

Italy opened their campaign with a win over Scotland before falling to battling defeats against Ireland and France with performances that have many believing this is perhaps the best Italian side seen in the Six Nations, but Ioane wants more.

"If you look at it from the outside, I guess everyone else would see it as quite successful," Ioane told Reuters.

"It's frustrating from our point of view because we feel that we're a team that has grown year after year. So, yeah, it's been frustrating, but it's also been very positive for us."

MENTALITY SHIFT

Two years ago in Rome, Italy ran England close. Ioane scored a late try as Gonzalo Quesada's first game