‘The day we almost outfoxed England’: an oral history of Italy’s cunning ruse | Andy Bull

Italy arrived at Twickenham in the 2017 Six Nations having lost against England 23 times in a row. They needed to try something different …It was Brendan Venter’s idea, to begin with. In the early spring of 2017 Venter was Italy’s defence coach, and like his boss, Conor O’Shea, this was his first Six Nations in the job. They had already been beaten 33-7 by Wales and 63-10 by Ireland. Now they had a fortnight before they played England, a team they had lost to 23 times in a row. Given Italy’s form, no one, least of all their players, had reason to believe this next game would be any different. …