England 31 Italy 14
Saturday’s striking Six Nations games in Dublin and Edinburgh always felt like a potentially hard act to follow and so it proved. England will be suitably glad of this first victory under Steve Borthwick’s stewardship but it would be stretching it to describe this as a contest which will linger long in the memory.
If there was no doubting the strength or effectiveness of England’s driving maul and their set-piece, there was not always consistent fluency elsewhere until the talented replacement wing Henry Arundell provided a late spark with a sharp try on his Twickenham debut. The excellent Jack Willis, who suffered a serious leg injury in this fixture two years ago, also scored one of his side’s five tries on a day when the outcome was never really in doubt.
Italy had been hoping this might be the day they finally grasped a historic first win over England but that possibility had been all but extinguished by half-time when the hosts led 19-0. Ollie Chessum, Jamie George and a penalty try were England’s other scorers but, aside from the mazy running of their talented fullback Ange Capuozzo, Italy were unable to emulate Scotland’s example on the same pitch on the opening weekend.
It did not help that the Azzurri were initially as error-prone as they had been electric against France just a week previously. The loss of their captain Michele Lamaro with a thigh injury robbed them of bristling edge and, until late in the game when more space began to appear, the nimble Capuozzo was hounded and harried at every turn.
England once again looked like a side still in development but they did have one super strength, to borrow one of Borthwick’s favourite phrases. The driving maul may not have necessarily been what every Twickenham patron was looking for to brighten a grey Sunday afternoon but it was working so well that England had no need to look elsewhere for their three first-half tries.
Just 12 minutes had elapsed when the clearly energised Willis burst clear at the front of an ominous white-shirted rumble to open the scoring. With Italy leaking an increasing number of penalties, Lorenzo Cannone was sent to the sin bin and, against 14 men, the home side again took advantage of a prime short-range opportunity, with Ellis Genge cleverly slipping the ball to Chessum and giving the lanky lock an extra precious inch or two of space to exploit.
Italy simply could not catch a break, whistled almost to a standstill. It encouraged England to spread their wings slightly more and some lovely deception wide on the right from Max Malins put the winger clear before Jack van Poortvliet materialised inside him to complete the move. Unfortunately for England, Ollie Lawrence had obstructed an Italian midfield defender and the score was rubbed off.
It didn’t matter; England still had an advantage and opted to kick to the corner and another determined maul drove a delighted George over. The hooker has also had a rollercoaster season but here, at last, was a little moment of undiluted joy.
Owen Farrell, having potted the first two conversions, missed this one but it already appeared incidental. Italy, though, emerged after the interval with renewed spirit and it was no less than they deserved when Capuozzo finally surged clear and Italy’s subsequent pressure was rewarded with a try by their tighthead Marco Riccioni.
Riccioni plays his club rugby for Saracens which made it slightly ironic when he and Farrell were to be found wrestling angrily on the ground after the England skipper had been the recipient of a robust tackle. Borthwick came down to the touchline, appearing to suggest there may have been foul play on the floor but was waved back to his seat by the fourth official.
Normal service was resumed soon enough, however. England managed to slow the game down again and when Simone Ferrari pulled down another dominant maul to concede a penalty try, a bonus point and another yellow card it made it 26-7 with 30 minutes still to play.
The rest was supposed to be about whether England’s bench could ratchet up their visitors’ discomfort. In fact Alessandro Fusco, just on as replacement scrumhalf, darted over for a second Italian try but it was Arundell, sniping over in the left corner, who belatedly gave the home supporters what they had really been hoping for. – Guardian
ENGLAND: F Steward; M Malins, H Slade, O Lawrence, O Hassell-Collins; O Farrell (capt), J Van Poortvliet; E Genge, J George, K Sinckler; M Itoje, O Chessum; L Ludlam, J Willis, A Dombrandt.
Replacements: D Cole for Sinckler (49 mins); B Earl for Willis (52); H Arundell for Hassell-Collins, M Vunipola for Genge (both 54); A Mitchell for van Poortvliet (59); N Isiekwe for Dombrandt (65); M Smith for Slade (72); J Walker for George (73).
ITALY: A Capuozzo; E Padovani, JI Brex, L Morisi, T Menoncello; T Allan, S Varney; D Fischetti, G Nicotera, M Riccioni; N Cannone, F Ruzza; S Negri, M Lamaro (capt), L Cannone.
Replacements: M Zuliani for Lamaro (23 mins); P Bruno for Morisi (46); F Zani for Fischetti (54); J Polledri for L Cannone (56); L Bigi for Nicotera (60); A Fusco for Varney (61); E Iachizzi for N Cannone (74). Not used: S Ferrari.
Sin Bin: L Cannone (26 mins), Ferrari (49).
Referee: James Doleman (New Zealand).
