England have shown the ruthless streak demanded by coach Eddie Jones as they atoned for their shattering collapse against Scotland by outclassing Italy 33-0 at the Stadio Olimpico.
Jones had urged his team to “light up Rome” on Sunday and, in response, they delivered a five-try rout orchestrated by man-of-the-match Marcus Smith to inflict a 34th successive championship defeat on the hapless Azzurri.
England had stormed 21-0 ahead by halftime and Smith was at the heart of many of their best moments, but he truly shone when firing a superb missed pass to provide Elliot Daly with a simple try in the 45th minute.
And unlike at Murrayfield a week earlier, when he was replaced in the 63rd minute to widespread puzzlement, there was no sign of George Ford arriving off the bench until late on and, this time, it was Joe Marchant who made way.
Ben Youngs eventually joined him at halfback to equal Jason Leonard’s record as England’s most capped player on 114 appearances, with the round-three visit of Wales to Twickenham the likely setting for him to surpass the milestone.
But, having replaced the impressive Harry Randall, Youngs entered a team that were in the midst of losing their way as Italy discovered renewed purpose to spend long spells camped in opposition territory, albeit with little end product.
An England side showing six changes in personnel following their Calcutta Cup setback struggled to reimpose themselves, taking some gloss off the victory.
It took just nine minutes for England to get off the mark when Max Malins and Smith combined for the flyhalf to score.
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After big carries from Nick Isiekwe and Maro Itoje shoved Italy’s pack backwards, Jamie George was next to burrow over from close range and the first half finished with the hooker using his strength to claim his second try after the damage was done by a piercing run from Freddie Steward.
It began to look ominous for Italy as Smith flashed his classy long pass for Daly to score in the second half.
Italy’s Melbourne-born wing Monty Ioane, the nephew of former Wallaby Digby Ioane, caused havoc in the visiting defence, showing real gas until he was well tackled by Steward who, as the last man, needed to get the hit right.
Ioane’s run launched a period of Azzurri dominance that England just could not shake off and even Smith made a mistake as he knocked on in contact, but a breakaway try from Kyle Sinckler eventually completed the clean-sheet victory.
FunBus
Roar Rookie
Yes, that was nice. But, whilst trying to avoid the grumpy old man tag, I'd prefer to see him put a few tightheads on roller skates at the scrum.
Chris
Guest
Nah, the ref has many responsibilities, primary of which is safety, yes, but the once the medic is there he needs to move on to his other stuff. The medic should have taken Nowells off, checked what needed to be checked, and made the call. The whole point of the HIA protocol is that players can be safely checked without punishing the team with the injury. If anything the ref should have ordered Nowells off so that the game could continue, the on field delay didn't make the game more entertaining or safer.
Englishbob
Guest
The ref has a duty of care to the players, he wasn't "keeping the game flowing" he was ignoring HIA protocols and letting a player play on. If he'd had waited a minute it would have been an issue, if Nowell would have banged his head again that could have stopped the game for ages
Chris
Guest
I disagree, the ref has duty to keep the game going and the HIA protocol allows the player to get checked out properly without any real prejudice to England. I think the ref should have told medic to get Nowells off instead of having everyone waiting around until they find the footage (which didn't show anything anyway).
Pickett
Roar Rookie
Haha. Yes, from all parts of the world.
Neil Back
Roar Rookie
Literally millions when they're playing England.
Neil Back
Roar Rookie
Great to see Jack back. One of the unluckiest of English casualties on the long term injury roster, and one of the most missed. Hope he gets the opportunity to milk the remaining years of his International career.
Neil Back
Roar Rookie
Yeah, agree. But worth the entrance fee to see Genge link with Marcus in midfield to float a miss pass Finn style over the head of the Italian fullback to a galloping Jamie George on the wing. Classic front row try.
Ten Four Bandit
Guest
Are there any Italian rugby fans ?
Harry Selassie
Roar Rookie
It must be maddening to be an Italian rugby fan, they'll make a nice move(s), start to look threatening then will bollox it all up with a bone headed play, a silly penalty, etc. Marcus Smith looks like the real deal, a very skilled 10 who is very good with ball in hand. I think England miss some pace on the wing, like they have with May and could usr the running of a Tuilagi. Do they still need the Vunipolas or are their injury issues too much of a liability?
Englishbob
Guest
The most concerning element was the handling of Nowells HIA. For those who didn't see : Nowell had a head knock, play continued, at the next breakdown the England medic checked him on pitch as per protocol, separately and independently the stadium doctor was reviewing footage of the collision to determine if a HIA was required. The referee seemed to think England or the medic was playing for time for some reason and restarted play despite being told it was still under review. A few minutes later Nowell was sent for a HIA that he subsequently failed: Nowell played a few minutes of the game concussed and was in harms way unnecessarily. For me this shouldn't ruin this young refs burgeoning career ofcourse but he should learn from it, aside from that he had a fairly good game. England were better, not great but solid in set peice, miserly in defence and dangerous in attack. Look forward to Wales in a fortnight
FunBus
Roar Rookie
No, England didn’t show a ‘ruthless performance.’ It was fairly scrappy, as it often is against Italy.