Foden haunted by Rome blunders (From Ealing Times)

Foden haunted by Rome blunders

2:45pm Sunday 12th February 2012 in National Sport © Press Association 2011

Ben Foden will be haunted by the mistakes that forced England to come from behind to beat Italy in the RBS 6 Nations Championship at a freezing Stadio Olimpico.

The England full-back is desperate to atone for the errors, which gifted Italy two tries in as many minutes as the Azzurri opened a 15-6 lead early in the second half.

"If we had lost I would have blamed myself completely," Foden said. "I will probably still go to bed and relive that moment. It wasn't my best day at the office. It was a test of my character to come back out (after half-time) and not let it affect my game too much. Hopefully I'll get the chance to right the wrongs."

An awkward bounce, a deflection and Foden's mix-up with Ben Youngs gifted Italy their first try, scored by the wing Giovanbattista Venditti.

If Foden was unfortunate with the first, he takes full responsibility for the second when his off-load was intercepted and Tommaso Benvenuti scored under the posts.

England clawed their way back into the game with a second charge-down try from Charlie Hodgson and they sealed a 19-15 win thanks to a perfect kicking display from Owen Farrell.

Foden was relieved to have been bailed out but that intercept will live with him for a fortnight - until England next take the field, against Wales at Twickenham.

He added: "The second mistake was probably a little bit to do with the first try. I was trying to push the ball a bit too hard. I trucked it up the middle, managed to get my arms free and thought the pass was on for Charlie.

"Time slows down to virtually a standstill. Their 13 has got it and it was probably the longest 40-metre run-in I have had to watch. I was annoyed with myself. I always hold my hands up and say: 'My fault.'

"The guys all say forget about it because they know things like that happen and I don't need reminding it was my error. The guys were positive. They knew we could rally, the game wasn't lost and we had time to get back into it."