Six Nations: England taken to the cleaners by Ireland and Italy feel it is perfect chance, says Will Greenwood
England suffered their second straight defeat in the Six Nations as they were heavily beaten by Ireland at Twickenham, plunging their campaign into doubt as they sit fourth in the table; Will Greenwood says all but one player could have been benched against Ireland
Monday 23 February 2026 19:43, UK
Will Greenwood insists there is no magic wand to fix England's woes and that Steve Borthwick's side could be drawn into a dark place against Italy after their crushing defeat to Ireland at the weekend.
England's Six Nations campaign finds itself under threat after they were thumped 42-21 by Ireland a week on from their 30-21 upset loss to Scotland at Murrayfield.
They will now seek to keep their hopes alive against Italy at the Stadio Olimpico on March 7.
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"Luke Cowan-Dickie and Freddie Steward were hooked before half-time and I think there would be a reasonable argument that every single player except Joe Heyes was below par and if you're below par and there's a sub on the bench you can get hooked," Greenwood told Sky Sports News.
"Individually they were outplayed by their opposite man, in units they were outplayed by the opposition unit and collectively as a whole they were taken to the cleaners by Ireland.
"There were few positives but there have been positives in the last 12-15 months, what they have to do is cling onto those, reinforce those and prepare for what will be a very difficult trip to Rome. Italy will be thinking this is their chance."
England currently sit fourth and with just a win against Wales to their name, having seen their 12-Test winning run come to an end against Scotland.
"There's no magic wand or silver bullet that wipes everything away meaning everything is rosy in the England camp again," Greenwood continued. "It's all in the detail from the coaching staff equipping the players with enough information, and then the players has to drive it themselves, and begin to lead on the field, adapt to what's happening in front of them and be confident to change things on the hoof instead of waiting for Monday morning to be told.
"They have to take all the information on and hopefully unleash a performance England fans can be proud of. The Irish players really played for each other, Andy Farrell and their country last week, you felt England were trying to feel their way into the game and play to a textbook.
Their recent struggles have stemmed from stuttering starts in which they allowed Ireland to post 22 points in the opening half-an-hour having trailed 17-0 in just 15 minutes against Scotland.
"Rugby is a violent sport and emotional physically and mental, it's feral, you're going to get hurt, you have to take yourself to places and put yourself around," Greenwood continued.
"It's probably the most damning statement of all. If you judge the two teams on who really wanted it more, the Irish did. You thought at the start of the second half, the hair-dryer treatment, they'd be getting into each other to start well and it was all of the same.
"It became damage limitation, and it's a sorry day for an England rugby player to be talking about damage limitation when you're playing at Twickenham."
Greenwood called on England to play with greater self-belief in the wake of a 'demoralising' performance against Ireland.
Italy are coming off a 33-8 defeat to France on the back of a 20-13 loss to Ireland, their only victory so far an 18-15 win over Scotland.
"Italy over the last 20/25 years have gone from a side feared in the set piece and nowhere else, now they've got flow, tempo, stride runners," said Greenwood.
"They are an outstanding team full of confidence. They will know England will be a little jittery, a little nervous and they'll look to take advantage in the first 10/15 minutes, expose the frailties. And if they do that it's a dark place for England to dig themselves out. We're all hoping for a big bounce back.
