Some cynical Englishmen may be relieved that France won yesterday - England's track record of needing a win from their last away game of the championship hasn't been great recently.

Actually, whatever the result in Paris, this game was always likely to be about the future. Certainly the decision to keep Martin Johnson on the bench, an eminently reasonable one, smacks of forward planning, although the pedigree of Ben Kay and Danny Grewcock is so high that Johnson's omission might be justified on every level. With four England captains and 316 caps sitting on the bench without too much ground for complaint, England are strong enough to make a win today a formality. Lawrence Dallaglio is sitting on that bench and looks set to captain England's summer tour. Indeed, it might be said that the summer tour starts with this encounter in Rome.

For Italy, the aim must be to find positives from what looks like being another winless campaign. They will need to concentrate on keeping 15 men on the field, having lost eight players to the sin bin this year. Alessandro Moscardi, Diego Dominguez and Alessandro Toncon are still at the helm, but Brad Johnstone, the beleaguered coach, is likely to be relieved of his duties latter this week. Unless, of course....

Ben Kay's Six Nations stats
Appearances 4; Ball carries 23; Metres 150; Line-outs won 20; Passes 11; Defenders beaten 4; Off-loads 4; Tackles 33; Missed tackles 2; Tries 1; Pens conceded 3.

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