Italy 12 England 17:THERE WAS some breathtaking Six Nations drama on the second weekend but none of it from the leaden-footed gladiators on display yesterday. England remain unbeaten in this year's championship, but this was a step backwards in every department save the outcome. If they really do aspire to challenge France in a grand slam decider next month, England will have to reinvent themselves totally against Ireland on Saturday week.

It is hard to know where to start in terms of finding positives. By common consent this is far from the strongest side Italy have fielded, but at times the visitors made them look like thoroughbreds. Without a breakout try, scored by Mathew Tait after 46 minutes, a first Italian victory in this fixture after 15 blanks could easily have unfolded on a cool, grey Roman afternoon.

Had they suffered that indignity, England could hardly have complained. Their performance, for lengthy periods, was as lacklustre as any they have produced under Martin Johnson.

Defensively, in fairness, they looked solid to the end, and Tait, Mark Cueto and Riki Flutey caused the odd attacking flutter.

But further in there remain glaring issues.

The amount of kicking from both sides betrayed the collective lack of ambition and as a spectacle the contest had all the light, airy qualities of stale, sodden tiramisu.

Back in their modern kit, rather than the old-style centenary version they wore against Wales, England played like something out of a museum. Apart from the opening couple of minutes, contrary to their pre-match rhetoric, they were mostly content to play at a stately crawl which fit the Italians like a tailor-made suit. Maybe it is part of the game plan for Jonny Wilkinson to punt ceaselessly rather than attempt to spark something with ball in hand; sadly, the kicking is being overdone.

When the visitors did launch slashing breaks through the middle, most notably from Cueto and Tait, they looked a different side. But a pulsating rhythm was beyond them.

Suitably encouraged, the Azzurri began to play like a team who realise they might have a sniff. The absence of Sergio Parisse has deprived them of one world-class number eight, but Treviso’s Alessandro Zanni is fast developing into a game-changing player in his own right. With the bearded Luke McLean swinging a big left boot from fullback and the scrum much improved from the Ireland game, there was no sense of a David v Goliath contest unfolding.

Nor did it help England that Wilkinson’s goal-kicking was shakier than normal. Having landed his first penalty following a botched Italian lineout, he fell short with a long-range effort and then missed a sitter from virtually in front of the sticks.

A full-blown attack of the yips was avoided when Wilkinson sneaked an angled penalty just inside an upright shortly before the interval, levelling the score at 6-6, but his uncertainty was contagious.

Tait’s try was slightly against the run of play. Easter’s pass to Ugo Monye near the left touchline might also have been an inch forward but play was waved on and Delon Armitage gave Tait enough time and space to outpace the covering Tito Tebaldi.

If English supporters anticipated the floodgates opening, they were to be disappointed. Even with Italy down to 14 men following Castrogiovanni’s yellow-card for ball-killing, there was no hint of the damage inflicted on Wales in Alun Wyn Jones’s absence.

From an Italian perspective, victory would have outstripped anything they have achieved in a decade of Six Nations toil.

Hence the anger which echoed around the stadium when Lewis Moody cleaned out McLean in the air and, unlike Castrogiovanni, escaped with a lecture. Such frustration only deepened when England managed to scramble their way back upfield and Wilkinson dropped a goal to soothe his coach’s furrowed brow.

ITALY: McLean; Masi, Canale, Garcia, M Bergamasco; Gower, Tebaldi; Perugini, Ghiraldini, Castrogiovanni, Geldenhuys, Bortolami, Sole, M Bergamasco, Zanni. Replacements: Robertson for Masi (55), Canavosio for Tebaldi (53), Aguero for Perugini (55), Ongaro for Ghiraldini (75). Not used: Bernabo, Derbyshire, Bocchino. Sinbin: Castrogiovanni (58).

ENGLAND: D Armitage; Cueto, Tait, Flutey, Monye; Wilkinson, Care; Payne, Hartley, Cole, Shaw, Borthwick, Haskell, Moody, Easter. Replacements: Hodgson for Care (75), Mullan for Payne (59), Thompson for Hartley (69), Wilson for Cole (64), Deacon for Shaw (64), S. Armitage for Moody (72). Not used: Flood.

Referee: Christophe Berdos (France).