'Can Italy end their record?' – Every team that has NEVER beaten England at senior men's level
Today at 11:49 AM
England take on Italy next Saturday, in the fourth round of the 2025 Guinness Men’s Six Nations. Steve Borthwick’s side have enjoyed a nice return to winning form, after enduring a run of six consecutive defeats to tier one rugby nations (excluding Japan).
After narrow one-point wins over France and Scotland, England have back to back wins under their belts from the two latest rounds of ‘Rugby’s Greatest Championship’. Borthwick’s men are lining up a third win on the bounce at the Allianz Stadium, with newly appointed captain Maro Itoje as yet undefeated when leading in Test match outings upon home soil.
Find your local Greene King and settle in to the Six Nations!
Every nation that has never beat England in men’s senior rugby
1. Italy (31 defeats)
England are heavy favourites for their fourth match of the 2025 Six Nations, with Gonzalo Quesada’s Italy set to arrive in Twickenham for their clash on Sunday, March 9th. The Azzurri have never been able to beat England on the men’s senior stage, with the latest meeting from the 2024 Six Nations, being the closest the Italians have ever come to secure the victory. Italy fell short by just three points last year (27-24), as England scraped the win in Rome’s Stadio Olimpico to kick off last year’s tournament.
England first faced Italy on October 8th 1991, with the hosts at Twickenham racking up the win in the pool stages of the 1991 Rugby World Cup. The 36-6 triumph was the first of 31 wins on the bounce, which has stretched throughout the 1995 Rugby World Cup, and every iteration of the Six Nations Championship since Italy were added to expand the Five Nations in 2000.
The heaviest ever win saw England hammer Italy with an 80-23 pumping in the 2001 Six Nations, however next weekend’s incoming match is set to be a far closer encounter. Quesada’s side have enjoyed a resurgence of Six Nations form with consistent wins over Wales, and are by no means the tournament’s guaranteed wooden spoon holders with their seven year run of losses now firmly in the rear-view mirror. After the closest ever Anglo-Italian clash a year ago, Italy have all the right to shock the Allianz Stadium by defeating England for the first time.
2. Samoa (9 Defeats)
England’s best run of form against a Pacific Island nation, is their nine-match winning streak against Samoa. England also have a solid record against Tonga (more on that shortly), yet they are no longer able to hold up the score-card for an undefeated run against Fiji, following the 2023 Summer upset at the Allianz Stadium.
England first took on Samoa at the 1995 Rugby World Cup with the hard-hitting Pacific Islanders succumbing to a 44-22 pool stage defeat in Durban, South Africa. Will Carling made a milestone appearance in this fixture, as the England legend achieved his 50th England cap in this fixture. The most recent fixture between England and Samoa was at the 2023 Rugby World Cup, in what was a narrow 18-17 win for Steve Borthwick’s side.
3. Canada (7 Defeats)
Canada's first encounter with England in international rugby came on the 1967 England tour of Canada, with the tourists achieving a 29-0 landslide win. Then, during the 1991 Rugby World Cup, Canada sustained a 19-0 defeat on the global stage. Despite their best defensive efforts, they struggled to break through England's well-organized backline.
Over the years, Canada's inability to match England's depth and power has led to a series of lopsided results, with their most recent match in 2021 ended in a 70-14 rout at Twickenham. England's superior set-piece execution and clinical finishing have consistently exposed Canada's defensive frailties.
Despite never beating England, Canada has had moments of resilience in their clashes. England’s 2001 tour of Canada and the US, England pushed harder than expected, keeping the score close for much of the game, before ultimately losing 22-10. Historically, Canada has produced a number of standout players, such as Gareth Rees and Jamie Cudmore, who have competed at the highest levels in Europe.
However, the decline of Canadian domestic rugby, particularly the financial struggles of the national program, has widened the gap between them and tier-one nations like England.
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