"It's just one game, though, the start of a journey," said Stuart Lancaster last Saturday. "I hope it gives people something to cheer about again. It's not been much fun, English rugby, has it? It was time to build a new England."
The interim head coach was clearly a happy man after his side's scrappy and somewhat fortuitous win over Scotland. He said in the build-up that he would have taken a 'dirty 6-3 win' and while he may have been slightly out with the scoreline, he certainly got the dirty bit bang on.
“To win against England we have to play the perfect game and we cannot make too many mistakes, like we did against France last weekend”Italy prop Martin Castrogiovanni
It may not have been the prettiest, but the positives of the performance outweigh the negatives and they now travel to Rome, a city that, as the phrase goes, wasn't built in a day.
It's an analogy that sums up Lancaster England's side perfectly. Burying the horrors of the last six months will not happen overnight, but the manner of their gritty performance at Murrayfield gives them a platform to kick-start the rebuilding process.
They head to the Eternal City eternally grateful to a Scotland side who handed victory to them on a plate. England will require the same gladiatorial spirit they showed against Scotland as the Italians, if given similar try-scoring opportunities, will throw them to the lions.
If evidence of just how much the win meant to Lancaster was required, his hand proves it. Two stitches were required as a result of a punch of celebration delivered to the wall of the coaching box following Charlie Hodgson's charge-down try.
While the passion and pride he and his coaching staff have installed was clear to see at Murrayfield, the jury will remain out on the new-look England until the final whistle blows at the Stadio Olimpico.
The Italians are using the huge 82,000-seat stadium, the home of Roma and Lazio and a venue that hosted the 1960 Summer Olympics, four European Cup finals and the 1990 World Cup final, until the Stadio Flaminio complies with Six Nations requirements.
It is hoped that playing at such a high-profile and large stadia will help raise the profile of rugby in Italy, a fact captain Sergio Parisse acknowledges. "It is our job to give the young the desire to come out and play rugby," he said. "Seven out of 10 kids in this country play football, two basketball and only one rugby. We have a big responsibility."
They had their moments in their defeat by France, but the promises of new coach Jacques Brunel that they would show a more expansive brand of rugby were left unfulfilled. Playing at the Stade de France is not an easy place to start fizzing the ball about, but on home soil they will aim to give England's defence another tough afternoon.
They were blown away by Chris Ashton's record-breaking four-try blitz last season, but the scars of that defeat have healed, and they will sense that maybe they will never have a better chance of recording their first-ever victory over England.
TEAM LINE-UPS
Italy : 15-Andrea Masi, 14-Giovanbattista Venditti, 13-Tommaso Benvenuti, 12-Gonzalo Canale, 11-Luke McLean, 10-Kris Burton, 9-Edoardo Gori; 1-Andrea Lo Cicero, 2-Leonardo Ghiraldini, 3-Martin Castrogiovanni, 4-Quintin Geldenhuys, 5-Marco Bortolami, 6-Alessandro Zanni, 7-Robert Barbieri, 8-Sergio Parisse (capt)
Replacements: 16-Tommaso D'Apice, 17-Lorenzo Cittadini, 18-Antonio Pavanello, 19-Mauro Bergamasco, 20-Fabio Semenzato, 21-Tobias Botes, 22-Luca Morisi
England : 15-Ben Foden, 14-Chris Ashton, 13-Brad Barritt, 12-Owen Farrell, 11-David Strettle, 10-Charlie Hodgson, 9-Ben Youngs; 1-Alex Corbisiero, 2-Dan Cole, 3-Dylan Hartley, 4-Mouritz Botha, 5-Tom Palmer, 6-Tom Croft , 7-Chris Robshaw (capt), 8-Phil Dowson
Replacements: 16-Rob Webber, 17-Matt Stevens, 18-Geoff Parling, 19-Ben Morgan, 20-Lee Dickson, 21-Jordan Turner-Hall, 22-Mike Brown
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee : Jerome Garces (FRA)
Touch judges : Alain Rolland (IRE) & Neil Paterson (SCO)
TV : Tony Redmond (IRE)
Forecast
Wintry conditions continue in Rome during Saturday with temperatures struggling to get above freezing at 2 or 3 degrees at best! It should remain dry with a few bright spells but a light shower can't be completely ruled out.
