MY ACCOUNT
Jamie George scored two first-half tries as England cruised to a 33-0 bonus-point victory against Italy at Stadio Olimpico for their first win of the 2022 Six Nations.
England fell to a late 20-17 loss to Scotland in their opening match but any risk of back-to-back defeats to begin a campaign for the first time since 2005 never looked likely.
The visitors crossed over three times in the first half, with George at the double after Marcus Smith had opened the scoring inside nine minutes.
Elliot Daly and Kyle Sinckler further punished sloppy Italy, who have now lost each of their past 34 matches in the Six Nations and have still yet to beat England in the competition.
Italy took a shock early lead in last week’s loss to France, though they were on the wrong end of an early try against England as Smith linked up with Max Malins and dived over.
England did not have to wait long for a second try, with George burying his way over from close range to finish off a move he started from a lineout.
Maro Itoje had a try ruled out for obstruction, but England were out of sight before half-time as George collected Smith’s offload and grounded after dodging a couple of tackles.
Daly, brought on for Jack Nowell in the first half after the wing failed a head injury assessment, added a fourth for England when racing in down the left early in the second half.
England introduced Ben Youngs for the scrum-half’s 114th cap, equalling Jason Leonard’s Test record, while Ollie Chessum was handed his senior debut.
Italy pushed hard for a consolation try without finding one, and it was left to Sinckler to have the final say with a simple finish following a costly Leonardo Marin error.
Red Rose rampant
England clearly wanted to send out a message on the back of last week’s loss to Scotland and they did exactly that with three tries in the first half and two more in the second.
The Red Rose’s lead at half-time was their joint-biggest in an away game in the Six Nations, level with the 21 points they led by against Wales in 2001 and Italy in 2002.
Steward shows the way
This comfortable England win was as much about Italy’s sloppy and ill-disciplined play as their own brilliance, but Freddie Steward deserves praise for his under-the-radar performance.
He led the way for metres made (157) and also reached double figures for carries (11), behind only Malins (12) and Alex Dombrandt (15).
Key Opta Facts:
– England have won each of their 23 Six Nations matches against Italy and are the only side that the Azzurri have not beaten in the Championship.
– Italy have now lost their last 34 matches in the Six Nations, the longest losing run by any team in the Five or Six Nations, with their last victory coming against Scotland (22-19) in Edinburgh in 2015.
– England kept Italy scoreless in this match, just the second time they have ‘nilled’ their opponents in a Six Nations game, after doing so against Scotland in 2014 (20-0). It is the sixth time Italy have failed to score a point in a match in the Championship – Scotland (twice) are the only other team to fail to score in a Six Nations game.
– The visitors led 21-0 at half-time in this match, their joint biggest half-time lead in an away game in the Six Nations, level with their match against Wales in 2001 (29-8 at HT) and Italy in 2002 (24-3).
– Smith both scored and assisted a try against Italy, the third time he has managed that in a Test match for England. Overall, he has had eight try involvements in his seven Tests, scoring four and assisting four.
What’s next?
England take on Wales at Twickenham on February 26, while Italy travel to Ireland the following day.
