Steve Borthwick took his first win as England manager on Sunday, beating Italy convincingly 31-14 in the Six Nations at Twickenham.
Borthwick’s team showed a much improved performance after the tournament’s opening defeat against Scotland last week, earning a bonus point and moving up to third in the standings. England beat Italy in 24 consecutive Six Nations matches, a perfect finish against Azzurri.
“There were certainly positive steps forward, small steps forward,” England manager Borthwick said after the match. “I credit the players for really working hard on these improvements. We are trying to rebuild this team and I think we have made some progress in that regard in these first few weeks.
“I thought we left some chances in there, I think our cancer rate could have been better… we stretched the defenses more and our cancer rate went down. We need to make sure that we are constantly improving in this regard.
“In the end, we lost some opportunities to the opponent at the end of the game again. We’ll see why, because it’s been two weeks in a row.”
After an initial period of possession, England started the match and opened the scoring in the 12th minute thanks to an energetic winger Jack Willis.
England decided to take a penalty into the corner and moved forward from the lineout with a maul to throw the ball over the line, with Willis receiving applause. Captain Owen Farrell, who was halfway up against regular player Marcus Smith, converted unerringly.
Italy’s forays into 22 hosts were largely smothered at the source, although defender Ange Capuozzo showed his undeniable qualities with some trial outbursts.
The sin of Lorenzo Cannone in the 28th minute provoked a series of attacks from Borthwick and Ollie Chessum was able to use him to score England’s second goal.
From the sea of bodies, Ellis Genge deftly escaped to trap Chessum, who was able to duck over the line and jump over it. Farrell converted from close range again.
The hosts continued to threaten, Jack Van Poortvliet rushed forward to stir up pandemonium at Twickenham, but his impressive effort was ruled out by an early match obstruction.
However, the home team were denied a short time in the third leg and Jamie George outplayed in the 37th minute to allow England to take full advantage of their added advantage.
Much less individual effort than Van Poortvliet’s chalked attempt, George fell behind an advancing maul before relenting to extend England’s lead to 19, although Farrell failed to convert from a tight angle.
Italy responded within four minutes of the second half, closing England’s lead when Marco Riccione intercepted the ball.
Capuozzo’s diligence again helped Italy advance before they swerved to the left and Riccione burst into space to take a spot just behind the line before Tommaso Allan converted.
But England bounced back as Italy illegally fouled their maul in the 50th minute, leading to a penalty attempt to make it 26-7 and secure a bonus point for Borthwick’s team. Simona Ferrari has been given a 10 minute timeout.
Tommaso Menoncello, breaking into England’s 22nd squad, replaced scrum-half Alessandro Fusco to close Italy’s gap with a 63rd-minute try that Allan converted as Kieran Crowley’s side began to look more comfortable.
However, after he had recovered from the pressure, Henry Arundell, who had replaced him, ran up and put Borthwick’s first win as England manager beyond doubt. However, linebacker Farrell was unable to add more two-point cushioning as his conversion fell off the right post.
With a win under their belts, England will face underdog Wales at the Principality Stadium on 25 February.
Source: www.espn.com
