Italy’s good rugby against England irks Conor O’Shea

England, meanwhile, has been preparing for a tilt at a third consecutive Six Nations title by developing aerial skills employed in Aussie Rules, under the guidance of their head of high performance, Neil Craig – a 62-year-old Australian and former AFL coach.

Craig was appointed in October and spent last week at England’s training camp in Portugal, working with the wingers and full-backs on high-ball techniques used in AFL. Israel Folau – the Australia full-back who spent two years with the AFL side Greater Western Sydney – often employs the unusual method of catching a high ball above his head and Craig has been developing the same skill among England’s back-three players.

“One little aspect of my role is to do some work with the guys under the high ball,” said Craig, whose remit also covers the development of coaches and player leadership.

“We see it all the time in AFL. It is one of the more spectacular movements that AFL is known for. Hopefully, I have been able to bring some expertise from there and add some modifications in technique. Israel played some AFL and to me, that is obvious with the way he goes about the high ball in rugby. His approach is something we are working towards with some of the players.”

England convened at their traditional Bagshot base on Monday, with all 34 players present in Portugal retained, despite a number of fitness concerns. Joe Marler and James Haskell have also joined the squad despite serving suspensions that rule them out of facing Italy and then Wales six days later.

Conor O’Shea has claimed Italy did not get the credit they deserved for giving England an almighty scare at Twickenham last year, expressing his frustration that the focus on his side’s “no ruck” tactics distracted from their performance. O’Shea also believes that World Rugby was too quick to amend the relevant law, which means the strategy is now illegal.

Italy led 10-5 at half-time last February and trailed by only two points with 12 minutes remaining before England struck with three late tries. It was Italy’s tactic of not contesting rucks, thereby ensuring no offside line and enabling their defenders to stand in between England’s scrum-half and his receivers with impunity, that made the headlines, however.

Eddie Jones was furious afterward, insisting: “That’s not rugby. If you paid for your ticket, ask for your money back,” while George Ford claimed Italy’s tactics “could kill the game”. Furthermore, it was England’s inability to adapt to the ploy that was considered the reason why Italy, who host Jones’s side on Sunday, were competitive – much to O’Shea’s annoyance.

“I thought there was an over-reaction last year,” O’Shea said. “What frustrated me was we’d actually played good rugby and didn’t get the credit for it. People came to Twickenham thinking [England would score] 100 points. We had a really tough day [in their previous match] against Ireland and for our team to come out and have the inner strength and belief to put in a performance like that two weeks later, when everyone was just saying: ‘You’re rubbish,’ that’s what I thought should have been focused on.”

Jones also took aim at the referee on the day, Romain Poite, but World Rugby stood by the Frenchman in the aftermath. As part of a tranche of law amendments introduced into the northern hemisphere at the start of August, however, the “no ruck” tactic is no longer possible. “I thought the clarification to the law was done too hastily,” O’Shea said. ”It was a law clarification that led to a game with more contact with it now. And it didn’t need to be tinkered with.”