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Eddie Jones' England are preparing to face Italy in the Six Nations with an air of confidence about them after their opening Six Nations win against Scotland. Team changes have been made and Maro Itoje may even get his debut from the bench, but coaches Paul Gustard and Steve Borthwick should be cautioning against complacency. Their former teammate, Tom May explains why...

Italy A vs. England A, Naples, Apr. 6 2002 

I remember it well. Sat next my good friend Jamie Noon overlooking the Mediterranean in Naples during the Spring of 2002 having played the day before, the sun was out and we should have had smiles on our faces. But we didn't, we were still shell shocked by what had happened.

On Apr. 6 2002, England 'A' -- now England Saxons -- played Italy's 'A' side. Steve Borthwick was our captain. Alongside him in the team that day were the likes of Dan Scarborough, Henry Paul, Ronnie Regan, Joe Worsley and on the bench, Paul Gustard, England's new defence coach. We had more than enough to beat Italy that day but instead we became the first senior side to lose to the Azzuri.

Until writing this article, I had almost managed to banish the memories into a distant corner of my mind. It was definitely a day to forget.

It probably happens to us all at some point in our rugby lives, losing to a side that we shouldn't. No matter what level of rugby you play, you will have experienced something like this.

Back in 2002, we made so many line breaks it was almost impossible to work out how the Italians found themselves within touching distance of us for the whole game -- in fact winning at times. We didn't have a bad game by any means but we were not converting our opportunities well enough.

We were making it more and more nerve-wracking the further the game progressed. In the back of our minds, we were thinking, 'No senior side has ever lost to an Italian one. Oh God, please don't let that be us...'

Two interception tries later and we had completed the unthinkable. We had achieved something no other England side had managed; we'd lost to Italy. If that sounds incredibly disrespectful, it's not. There is no way we should have lost. We probably underestimated what our opposition were capable of and paid the price massively.

This weekend, England have selected a side which can, without doubt, play good rugby. But don't underestimate this Italian side. To think Eddie Jones' men are going to stick 50 past the Italians on Sunday with ease is naive. They have to earn the right to play open, expansive rugby before unleashing.

They need to do exactly what the side I played with in '02 in Naples didn't. We played far too much and the two tries show just that. Throwing long, wide passes too early will let Italy into the game, allowing their defence to rush forward giving them hope. Kill that early doors and we will be fine.

Eddie Jones expressed his expectations soon after the Scotland game last week. That's a dangerous thing to do and something not many coaches do in the modern game. He's now committed to the challenge of thumping Italy, they have to go and deliver.

I just hope they don't think it will happen just by turning up. After all, that's what we did...