The tactic that helped Italy get the win over England

Italy stunned the rugby world by beating England 23-18 in round four of the 2026 Six Nations. Pressure is on Steve Borthwick's men after three losses so far (Ireland, Italy and Scotland). A lot of people are saying that England were not playing at their full potential, that is why Italy won. But if you look at one stat alone from that match, one could see how Italy managed to get the win but also close out the match.

Dropped catches. These two words will be written all over the England training facilities. England as a team dropped 7 catches and the moment the first one happened, the Italian half backs wre putting them up every chance they got. Tom Roebuck missed four with Elliot Daly, Alex Coles and Marcus Smith all missing one.

The Irish team against Wales dropped 5. Jamie Osborne and Robert Baloucoune both with two and Jacob Stockdale with one.

Wales also dropped 5. Louis Rees-Zammit, Dan Edwards and Josh Adams with one and Alex Mann with two.

Scotland and France did not drop one ball

Italy dropped 8 balls. Monty Ioane 6, Paolo Garbisi 1 and Lorenzo Pani one.

With England facing France next weekend, those backs would want to make sure of the high balls. If not, France could get their 4 tries and maybe walk away with the 2026 Six Nations trophy.