Maro Itoje wants to see ‘the very best’ of England when they take on Italy

Maro Itoje has reminded his England team of their responsibility to the jersey as he outlined the standards expected in Saturday’s clash with Italy in Rome.

The intensity of England’s training has ramped up since the 42-21 mauling by Ireland that extinguished their Guinness Six Nations title hopes, with defence coach Richard Wigglesworth declaring “sometimes you need to blow the lid off”.

Italy, conquerors of Scotland in round one, are seen as having their greatest chance yet of claiming a first win in 33 instalments of the fixture and enter the Stadio Olimpico showdown as only marginal underdogs.

For England the challenge is to avoid the self-destructive starts that led to their downfall in rounds three and four as they look to rebuild knowing they must take on France in Paris in the climax to the tournament.

Itoje’s final words to his team before stepping onto the field will be a rallying cry designed to induce a reaction to recent setbacks.

“The tone will be to relish the opportunity, relish the moment that we have, remember how privileged we are to do what we do,” the England captain said.

“We have a responsibility to ourselves, to everyone in the room, everyone in this programme and our fans.

“The very best of ourselves is aggressive, the very best of ourselves is confrontational, the very best of ourselves is accurate. We need to make sure we deliver on that.

“In one sense you want to have the same things every week. In another sense, every week presents its different kind of challenges, a different narrative. This week is about us taking the game to Italy.

“Italy are a very good side. It’s not about us waiting to see what happens or how they shape up. As soon as the game starts, it’s about us taking the game to them.

“I think we’re going to see a response. I think we’re going to see energy, life and bounce in our step. That is definitely what is required.

“We all care. We all want to win. When you don’t win it heightens the emotions even more.

“There has definitely been an emotional response at training. The most important thing is we see it in the game.”

Itoje’s second row partner Alex Coles admits England have been given a “kick up the a**e” after being warned by their coaches that the physical intensity needed for Test rugby was not at the required level against Scotland and Ireland.

“We have had that sort of kick up the a**e – those two games we weren’t at it. You have got to look at hard truths and try and get things right in the training week,” Coles said.

“It always stings losing at anything. We’re all hugely competitive and it stings losing at that highest level of sport when you have got all those friends and family and people you know that want our great nation to do well.

“You sometimes feel like you have let yourself down and let other people down, but you’ve got to take that pain and try and turn it into something productive.”