ROME (AP) — Italy beat England for the first time in a rugby international on Saturday.
Italy triumphed 23-18 at the Stadio Olimpico, finally knocking off the only team it hadn’t beaten since it joined the Six Nations in 2000.
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Italy's Tommaso Menoncello scores a try during the Six Nations rugby union match between Italy and England in Rome, Saturday, March 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Italy's Monty Ioane, left, is challenged by England's Tommy Roebuck during the Six Nations rugby union match between Italy and England in Rome, Saturday, March 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Italy's Leonardo Marin, center, scores a try during the Six Nations rugby union match between Italy and England in Rome, Saturday, March 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
England's players stand on the pitch at the end of the Six Nations rugby union match between Italy and England in Rome, Saturday, March 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
In a scrappy match, the home side claimed the lead for the third and final time with eight minutes to go after a Leonardo Marin try converted by Paolo Garbisi, who was a perfect five-of-five off the kicking tee.
Italy erupted in joy at fulltime, and a little relief. Having beaten Scotland at home in round one, Italy believed it had its best ever chance to topple a deflated England.
“We felt tension before the game,” Italy captain Michele Lamaro said. “We felt this game was close. We were nervous. Our confidence built during the game. We stuck together as a wall in defense.”
Defeat was England's third in a row following a 12-match winning streak, and it could get worse. England faces title-chasing France in Paris in the final round next Saturday with the possibility of suffering four defeats in the same championship for the first time in 50 years.
There's even a very slim chance England could end up with the wooden spoon if a heavy defeat to France follows a big win by Wales over Italy. As it stands, Italy has overtaken England in the table to fourth place.
Asked why things have gone so wrong for England, captain Maro Itoje said, "We have to figure it out. If we knew we wouldn't be in this position. We have to stick together. Teams go through tough periods and we are going through a tough period now.
“We have to own the result and it is a results business. As captain, I take responsibility for that.”
England’s win-loss record against Italy was 32-0 since the 1991 Rugby World Cup in tests capped by both sides, and 26-0 in the Six Nations. England averaged 36.2 points at Stadio Olimpico.
But England contributed to its historic defeat when it received two late yellow cards while in the lead.
At 18-10, flanker Sam Underhill was sin-binned for head contact on Italy prop Danilo Fischetti. Garbisi slotted that penalty kick and another soon after off the post to cut the gap to two.
Itoje was sin-binned in the 64th for illegally slapping the ball in a maul and 13 men were playing Italy's 15.
England held out and got Underhill back. Then Italy produced the try of the match.
Garbisi kick-passed to left winger Monty Ioane near halfway. Ioane charged and offloaded to Tommaso Menoncello, who bumped off Elliot Daly and passed inside to midfield partner Marin to finish off.
Until then, England looked like hanging on after coach Steve Borthwick named a new backline amid 12 team changes, three of them positional, in the most changes by England in the Six Nations era.
England dominated the first quarter but without any punch until center Tommy Freeman scored from an Alex Coles miss-out pass.
Menoncello replied with a break and 40-meter solo try for 10-5 but England reclaimed the lead right on halftime. A counterattack was capped by Fin Smith's kick-pass to scorer Tom Roebuck that Smith converted for 12-10.
Smith added two more penalties after halftime for 18-10 with Italy down a man after hooker Giacomo Nicotera was yellow-carded for a cynical ruck foul.
But instead of taking advantage, England's discipline imploded.
“We are gutted,” Borthwick said. “For 60 minutes, we are in control and those two sin-bins hurt us. Discipline is a significant factor, it is something we have to improve.”
AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby
Italy's Tommaso Menoncello scores a try during the Six Nations rugby union match between Italy and England in Rome, Saturday, March 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Italy's Monty Ioane, left, is challenged by England's Tommy Roebuck during the Six Nations rugby union match between Italy and England in Rome, Saturday, March 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Italy's Leonardo Marin, center, scores a try during the Six Nations rugby union match between Italy and England in Rome, Saturday, March 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
England's players stand on the pitch at the end of the Six Nations rugby union match between Italy and England in Rome, Saturday, March 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) — European leaders on Monday said that U.S. President Donald Trump’s snap decision to pull thousands of U.S. troops out of Germany came as a surprise but is a fresh sign that Europe must take care of its own security.
The Pentagon announced last week that it would pull some 5,000 troops out of Germany, but Trump told reporters on Saturday that “we’re going to cut way down. And we’re cutting a lot further than 5,000.”
He offered no reason for the move, which blindsided NATO, but his decision came amid an escalating dispute with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz over the U.S-Israeli war on Iran, and Trump’s anger that European allies have been reluctant to get involved in the conflict in the Middle East.
Asked about the decision to pull out 5,000 troops from Germany, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said: “I wouldn’t exaggerate that because I think we are expecting that Europe is taking more charge of its own security.
“I do not see those figures as dramatic, but I think they should be handled in a harmonious way inside the framework of NATO,” he told reporters in Yerevan, Armenia, where European leaders are holding a summit.
The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, said “there has been a talk about withdrawal of U.S. troops for a long time from Europe. But of course, the timing of this announcement comes as a surprise.”
“I think it shows that we have to really strengthen the European pillar in NATO,” she said.
Asked whether she believes that Trump is trying to punish Merz, who said that the U.S. has been humiliated by Iran in talks to end the war, Kallas said: “I don’t see into the head of President Trump, so he has to explain it himself.”
Over the weekend, NATO spokesperson Allison Hart said that officials at the 32-nation military alliance “are working with the U.S. to understand the details of their decision on force posture in Germany.”
European allies and Canada have known since just after he came to office again last year that Trump would pull troops out of Europe — indeed some left Romania in October — but U.S. officials had pledged to coordinate any moves with their NATO allies to avoid creating a security vacuum.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte played down the move, saying that “there has been at this point disappointment on the U.S. side” about European support for the war on Iran.
Notably France, Spain and the U.K. have declined to give U.S. forces free rein to use bases on their territory to attack Iran. Spain has denied them the use of its airspace and bases there for the war.
But Rutte, who has championed Trump’s leadership at NATO despite the U.S. president's criticism of the majority of the allies, said: “I would say the Europeans have heard a message. They are now making sure that all the bilateral basing agreements are being implemented.”
Rutte added that European nations “have decided to pre-position assets, key assets, close to the theater for the next phase.”
He provided no details, but the Europeans have insisted they would not help police the Strait of Hormuz, a key energy trade route, until the war is over.
French President Emmanuel Macron said “if the United States is ready to reopen Hormuz, that’s great. That’s what we’ve been asking for since the beginning.” But he underlined that the Europeans are not ready to get involved in any operation “that does not seem clear to us.”
In another sign of friction with Merz, Trump has accused the EU of not complying with its U.S. trade deal and announced plans to increase tariffs next week on cars and trucks produced in the bloc to 25%, a move that would be particularly damaging to Germany, a major automobile manufacturer.
Without mentioning Trump or the United States, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen listed recent trade deals that the bloc has sealed with Australia and India, and is now working on with Mexico.
“With like-minded friends, you have stable, reliable supply chains and Europe has the biggest network of free trade agreements,” von der Leyen, who is from Germany, told reporters.
Cook reported from Brussels.
French President Emmanuel Macron speaks with the media as he arrives for a meeting of the European Political Community in Yerevan, Armenia, Monday, May 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Anthony Pizzoferrato)
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen speaks with the media as she arrives for a meeting of the European Political Community in Yerevan, Armenia, Monday, May 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Anthony Pizzoferrato)
European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas speaks with the media as she arrives for a meeting of the European Political Community in Yerevan, Armenia, Monday, May 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Anthony Pizzoferrato)
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte speaks with the media as he arrives for a meeting of the European Political Community in Yerevan, Armenia, Monday, May 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Anthony Pizzoferrato)
Norway's Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store speaks with the media as he arrives for a meeting of the European Political Community in Yerevan, Armenia, Monday, May 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Anthony Pizzoferrato)
Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer arrives for a meeting of the European Political Community in Yerevan, Armenia, Monday, May 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Anthony Pizzoferrato)
