England's Josh Lewsey's thoughts on the Auld Enemy

Josh Lewsey MBE
By Kath 19/2/04
February 19 2004

England's Josh Lewsey MBE talks to Zurich and Metro about the Italian team and the Auld Enemy? He also does a good job for the Italian Touris Board!

For immediate release: 19 February 2004
Issued on behalf of Zurich

Josh Lewsey on www.zurichpremiership.com and in Metro
A sting in the tale.

Following the exploits of the World Cup and the subsequent raised bounty on our heads, the match in Rome against Italy on Sunday could very easily have been a big banana skin.

It was inevitable that after such a long break and changes in personnel, there would be at least some elements of rust. However, playing Italy in the first Six Nations game, scoring seven aesthetically-pleasing tries and not conceding any has always got to be good news.

After reading some of the match reports, it appeared the general prognosis was one of "bound to happen" but I feel this does not give credit to how competitive the Italians actually were.

They retained the ball for long periods, had us on the rack at times and played expansive rugby which showed a positive mindset. Without meaning to sound patronising, I just hope they can maintain this past their match in Paris next week as I feel someone will fall at the hands of the Azzurri this season.

Rugby aside, what the Italians do have is, quite frankly, the most astonishing city I have been to.  It isn't often Steve Thompson is kept quiet but on arriving in St Peter's Square and facing the Vatican, I think even he was in awe.

It seems unsurprising that 2000 years ago when most of the world lived in mud huts, the Romans with their opulent splendour and phallic monuments had rather a high opinion of themselves.

Without doing any more unpaid work for the Italian tourist office, it was a shame we had to leave so quickly in order to prepare for the Scotland game.

They, of course, will be looking to rectify their defeat in Cardiff. Needless to say Ladbrokes will have us as strong favourites but complacency is not a word which enters the England camp these days and we will go up to Edinburgh knowing our record there is littered with upsets.

Remember as well that when England won the Football World Cup in 1966, the first team to beat them the following year was the Auld Enemy.

Josh Lewsey