ENGLAND's seven-try victory over Italy served as the ideal warm-up for the serious business of taking on the New Zealand Barbarians at Twickenham on Saturday.

An awesome performance by the England pack which plundered four tries as well as blooding four of the seven new caps, and a stunning debut by the scrum-half Andy Gomarsall who scored twice, firmly signposted the way England may be planning to meet the Kiwi challenge.

It was the best possible start to the season's seven-match international programme which England could have hoped for given the presence of so many newcomers. Sure, England went off the boil after an hour's play - something they must not do against the New Zealanders - but by then glorious passages of explosive football had built a 42-7 lead. Even though the Italians scored three tries, the hosts finished firmly in command.

As the England captain Phil de Glanville pointed out, the New Zealanders, the All Blacks in all but name, would not allow England the same freedom as the Italians, who saw the game slip away within half an hour. Nevertheless, Jack Rowell, the England coach, will be greatly encouraged by the dynamic rugby his youthful side produced on their first outing together.

England's number eight Chris Sheasby, operating cheek by jowl with his Wasps team mates, Dallaglio and Gomarsalt, launched his Test career with a hard, athletic display of driving through the midfield that set the tempo for the afternoon.

Like Sheasby, Rodber, Johnson and Regan combined to out-power the Italians with sustained authority.

Said the Italian captain Massimo Giovanelli: "It was hard for us to find the right way to play - we lost a lot of ball in open play as well as the line-out. But I'm proud of my team - in the second half they were lion-hearted and with that mentality we will get to the top level."

It would be facile to complain about the lack of expansive play among England's three-quarters on a day that saw back row expertise generate a hatful of tries. Gomarsall was perhaps the chief beneficiary of the forwards' flexible game plan, spinning away from ill-timed tackles to score from short range in each half. The Wasps' number nine looks a good bet for the 1999 World Cup.

Wisely, the fly-half Catt did not try to cook an exotic omelette with too few eggs, not that the gung-ho Carting needed any prompting to launch a series of powerful runs and big hits that rattled the Italians to the marrow.

Fortunately, Catt was able to focus carefully on his goal-kicking after botching an early close-range penalty - the Bath play-maker finished with a respectable 19 points from five conversions and three penalty goals.

Sleightholme on the right wing received a single scoring chance from a sliced chip by Catt and he took it with panache.

Indeed, it was probably the most expansive forward game England have ever played. Dallaglio and Johnson in turn were driven over in explosive style to make the touchdown and later Rodber skipped through like a silky centre, courtesy of a scoring pass from De Glanville. In the last minute, Sheasby deservedly tunnelled his way through a ruck to rub salt in Italian wounds.