It's very frustrating. The lads showed a lot of ambition in the first half, they went out to sustain it in the second but couldn't build on it.

I very much hope we score some early points and get the thing won in the first 20 minutes, as we have on previous occasions. But we all understand we're facing a great battle here. If we're sloppy at the set pieces, give away penalties and allow the Italians to establish a foothold in the game, we may find ourselves having to use our bench players to win, which is not a position in which we tend to find ourselves against these opponents.

A player of ours has been proven guilty of biting. That's a scar that will never heal.

We were awful, we started poorly and never got in the game. At no stage did we put any pressure on the French.

I support the new structure and I think it is the best way forward for England. I was as disappointed as anyone with our Six Nations performance and I am confident that these changes will help us move on.

The pitch is surprisingly heavy, although it is not as bad as Chelsea's. It has obviously been used a lot by Edinburgh.