Gerard Meagher's player ratings
Paul Rees's match report
Eddie Jones speaks: “It’s a good response after Wales,” he says to ITV. “We left a bit out there and we’re a bit disappointed with certain aspects of our game but we’re ready for Scotland next week. It’s great that all our subs got good time and contributed to our win today. There’ll be great competition for places next week. Scotland is going to be like a Grand Final. We can’t control what happens in the other game but we can try to control what happens in our game. We’ll have a couple of days off now and get the lads in on Monday lunchtime to go again.”
Updated
Joe Cokanasiga speaks: “I wanted to get my hands on the ball as soon as I could and that’s what happened,” he tells ITV sport. “We are trying to bring more to the game than size or power – a bit of flair as well. After Wales we wanted to react, come together as a squad and that’s what we did.”
How things stand: Wales remain top of the table and will win the Six Nations if they beat Ireland next week. A point behind Wales in second place, England will be hoping the Irish can do them a favour in Cardiff this day week.
Full-time at Twickenham: England 57-14 Italy
England win, taking a bonus point as they post their biggest score against the Italians for eight years. It was a fairly dull game, punctuated by some decent tries for England and one beauty from Italy. Joe Cokanasiga and Manu Tuilagi were the stand-out players for England, who weren’t forced to work too hard and took advantage of some atrocious Italy defending.
Try for England!
79 min: England 57-14 Italy Another charge-down from George Kruis as Italy try to clear their lines. Brad Shield is on hand and will never score an easier try as he goes over from one metre out. George Ford adds the extra two.
77 min: England 50-14 Italy Allan breaks for the line, but is tackled by Nathan Hughes. England win possession back inside their own 22 and promptly clear their lines.
76 min: England 50-14 Italy Italy press on, going through the phases as they try to find an opening 11 metres from the England line.
74 min: England 50-14 Italy Italy break up the touchline in a promising move that comes to an abrupt end for an illegal tackle by Nathan Hughes. It’s a kickable penalty, but they boot for touch. Italy line-out, 10 metres from the England line.
70 min: England 50-14 Italy A doctor on the pitch ships a tackle from Jonny May, who failed to spot he was a middle-aged man with grey hair, wearing a black tracksuit and high-viz tabard, not to mention holding a bag of medical equipment. Referee Nic Berry blows his whistle to pause play before a ruck is formed over the medic.
Try for England!
68 min: England 50-14 Italy A try for Dan Robson, who was up in support of Joe Cokanasiga as he galloped up the line after picking up a pass from Elliot Daly. Cokanasiga draws the tackle, passing back inside to Robson, the replacement scrum-half, who is on his shoulder. Ford knocks over the conversion.
64 min: England 43-14 Italy England replacement: Joe Launchbury off, Nathan Hughes on.
Try for England!
64 min: England 43-14 Italy Geoergte Kruis goes over after charging down an attempted clearance from Jayden Hayward, continuing his run and gathering the ball as it bounces up nicely for him just in front of the line. George Ford scores the conversion.
Updated
62 min: England 36-14 Italy Presumably reading this report on the lap-top he’s looking at, Eddie Jones brings on Dan Robson. Replacement backs George Ford and Henry Slade also come on. Italy replace Sergio Parisse.
60 min: England 36-14 Italy Italy win a penalty on their own five-metre line as England are penalised for collapsing the scrum. the Twickenham crowd seem rather bored by the fare on offer. Ben Youngs remains on the field as England scrum-half, which seems rather odd. He hasn’t played particularly well today and Dan Robson could surely do with some minutes.
59 min: England 36-14 Italy Other England replacements from a few moments ago: Kyle Sinckler and Tom Curry replaced by Dan Cole and Mark Watson.
58 min: England 36-14 Italy A couple of front row replacements for England as Luke Cowan-Dickie and Ben Moon replace Jamie George and Ellis Genge.
Updated
56 min: England 31-14 Italy England go straight up the other end of the pitch and a good drive from Billy Vunipola gets them to the Italy five-metre line. Ben Tee’o knocks on and Italy win a scrum under their own posts.
Try for Italy!
54 min: England 36-14 Italy Italy spot an overlap out on the left wing and Tomasso Allan lofts a pass out wide over the top. Luca Morisi goes over unchallenged. Allan slots over a difficult conversion.
Updated
53 min: England 36-7 Italy Italy get their maul on and make ground to two metres out, under the England posts. They pass it out wide to Sergio Parisse. Phase eight for Italy, five metres out.
Updated
52 min: England 31-7 Italy Italian scrum on the halfway line. They play the ball out wide and Ian McKinley chips in behind. Jonny May cleans up at the back.
50 min: England 36-7 Italy Italy bring on several substitutes, among them Leonardo Ghiraldini, Tiziano Pasquali and Dave Sisi.
Try for England!
47 min: England 36-7 Italy Manu Tuilagi takes a pass from Jamie George five metres out and goes over in the corner to add another five points for England. The hard work was done by Joe Cokanasiga, who blasted through a couple of holes in the Italy defence, then shielded the ball well under the posts when he was unable to get his offload away. It’s a difficult conversion Owen Farrell fails to add the extras.
45 min: England 31-7 Italy Jonny May chases a kick down the touchline and looks to one side to see if he’s offside. He isn’t, but doesn’t win the chase to the ball, because because he hesitated to check if the touchline had his flag raised.
44 min: England 31-7 Italy Phase 19 for Italy as they find themselves 10 metres from the England line down by the corner. It all comes to naught, sadly, when Owen Farrell pounces on a loose pass and boots the ball down the field.
Updated
43 min: England 31-7 Italy The scrum takes aeons to set and England go too early with the push. Advantage Italy as they play the ball out through the backs and then back inside again. Braam Steyn tucks the ball under his arm, puts his head down and runs into a wall of white.
Second half: England 31-7 Italy
41 min: Italy get the second half under way, with Tomasso Allan doing the honours. George Kruis catches the ball and promptly drops it under pressure. Scrum for Italy just outside the England 22.
Half-time at Twickenham: England 31-7 Italy
With the clock in the red zone, Luca Morisi knocks on to end a period of sustained but unrewarded pressure from Italy. Nic Berry signals for half-time and England go in with a commanding lead.
39 min: England 31-7 Italy Ah! The ball’s passed to Vunipola from the scrum and he makes about 20 metres as he crashes through the Italian ranks. Good play from England. this is followed by some very bad play indeed – three tackles are missed as Italy make 40 metres and end up being just one unlucky bounce of the ball from scoring their second try after Jayden Hayward chips in behind for Angelo Esposito to chase.
Updated
36 min: England 31-7 Italy England win a scrum just inside the Italy half. For reasons that are beyond this reporter’s ken, Joe Cokanasiga takes the place of No8 Billy Vunipola in the scrum, with Vunipola moving out to the backline.
34 min: England 31-7 Italy Owen Farrell converts from under the posts. It’s worth noting that when England scored that try, Italy’s Tomasso Castello, on as a substitute, was on the floor receiving treatment at the other end of the pitch. The replacement is replaced - Castello is helped off, unable to put any weight on his left leg. Ian McKinley, an out-half by trade, replaces him in the centre.
Try for England!
32 min: England 29-7 Italy Brad Shields goes over for England after receiving a pass from Manu Tuilagi in the wake of good work from Elliot Daly and Jonny May.
Updated
31 min: England 24-7 Italy England scrum on their own 22. Ben Youngs feeds the ball out the back and it’s penalty advantage to England after Italy collapse it again.
29 min: England 24-7 Italy Italy keep the ball for 10 phases, but make no ground whatsoever. Sebastian Negri wins them a penalty on halfway and they kick for touch. Italy line-out on the English 22.
27 min: England 24-7 Italy Italy have lost their outside centre Michele Campagnaro to injury and he’s replaced by Tomasso Castello. It’s all going Pete Tong for Conor O’Shea’s side. They have the put-in on the halfway line and it couldn’t have been more crooked from Tito Tebaldi. The ref doesn’t penalise him.
25 min: England 24-7 Italy England have a penalty in front of the posts for an Italian failure to roll away from the tackle. Owen Farrell elects to kick and adds another three points.
23 min: England 21-7 Italy Italy give away a penalty and England kick for touch and win a line-out in the their opponents’ 22. Playing the ball out the backs, Farrell feeds Tuilagi again and England are four metres from the Italy line, under the posts. Penalty advantage for England ...
Try for England!
21 min: England 21-7 Italy England in possession on the halfway line, but Manu Tuilagi takes a pass from Owen Farrell, steps to one side, drops his shoulder and breaks through to two tackles to score a wonderful individual try to the right of the posts. Owen Farrell makes no mistake with the conversion.
Updated
19 min: England 14-7 Italy England in possession and Kyle Sinckler threatens to break through the Italian line, only to be brought to ground by a tap tackle.
17 min: England 14-7 Italy England win a penalty in their own 22 when Luca Bigi is flattened immediately after receiving a pass and fails to release the ball in the tackle. England clear their lines.
Try for England!
15 min: England 14-7 Italy England get a two on one after passing the ball out to the far touchline, when Angelo Esposito steps out of the defensive line and misses a tackle on Elliot Daly. He passes out to Jonny May, who goes over in the corner. Owen Farrell adds the extras.
15 min: England 7-7 Italy Tomasso Allan finds touch with a wonderful kick under pressure from Billy Vunipola.
14 min: England 7-7 Italy Tomasso Allan converts his own try and it’s all square at Twickenham.
Updated
TRY for Italy!!!
12 min: England 7-5 Italy After 20-odd phases of play, Italy score through out-half Tomasso Allan, who rolls out of a tackle and goes over in the corner after an excellent break from Sergio Parisse.
11 min: England 7-0 Italy Italy play the ball out the back to the left wing, Angelo Esposito as they make ground into the England half. The3y get to within eight metres of the English try line courtesy of several good carries.
8 min: England 7-0 Italy Owen Farrell curls his conversion between the posts and England’s early dominance is rewarded. This could be a long, long afternoon for Italy’s forwards, who weigh 877 kilos to England’s 936.
Try for England!
7 min: England 5-0 Italy England win the line-out and go over with a straightforward drive, with Jamie George touching down.
Updated
7 min: England 0-0 Italy Italy scrum, five metres from their own line down in the corner. England win a penalty when Simone Ferrari is penalised for collapsing - Owen Farrell kicks for touch.
5 min: England 0-0 Italy England are camped on the Italian line to the right of the posts after good work from Cokanasiga, Ben Youngs and Billy Vunipola. It was brilliant break by Cokanasiga. England play the ball out to the left wing, where Jonny May is in space but is unable to reach the pass that would surely have seen him go over.
4 min: England 0-0 Italy Italian hands on the deck a few metres out from their own line and England take a quick tap penalty. Italy turnover and kick clear. Kyle Sinckler, of all people, kicks for touch. Relentless England pressure in these early stages.
Updated
2 min: England 0-0 Italy England get the ball out wide, Cokanasiga catches a high ball and almost puts Tom Curry through. Knock on and Italy win the scrum.
Six Nations: England v Italy is go!!!
1 min: England 0-0 Italy Nic Berry blows his whistle and England, who won the toss, get the ball airborne in a packed Twickenham with the wind at their backs. Joe Cokanasiga wins the catch for England, who retain possession.
Not long now: The teams line up in the tunnel and are led out by Owen Farrell and Sergio Parisse. They line up either side of the team of match officials led by Australia’s Nic Berry. Next up the anthems and play will begin in a couple of minutes.
Updated
England v Italy stats
Simon Gleave, Head of Analysis at Gracenote has been busy doing his homework.
- England are the only team in this year’s competition yet to concede a try in the first 20 minutes of their three matches.
- The centre partnership of Ben Te’o and Manu Tuilagi is the fifth different one selected by Eddie Jones in his 19 Six Nations Championship matches in charge of England. Owen Farrell and Jonathan Joseph started 11 of those 19 matches together but haven’t done so since last year’s defeat in Scotland.
- Ellis Genge (24 years 21 days) is the youngest loosehead prop to start a Six Nations match for England in five years. Genge is the fifth youngest number 1 for England in the competition in the professional era after Mako Vunipola, Alex Corbisiero, Matt Stevens and Joe Marler.
- Jonny May has not yet scored a try against Italy, despite playing against them in four different matches. He has also not scored against Scotland (two tests) and Fiji (one) but has touched down against all other opponents.
- Italy do not start the halves well, failing to score a try at thein the first 20 minutes of either half so far this year and conceding a total of six across these two periods.
- Since getting within a score of England in four out of six matches between 2008 and 2013, the Italians have always been beaten by at least 21 points by the English in this competition. This season they are yet to lose by more than 12 points.
- Sergio Parisse extends his record of most matches played in the competition by playing for the 68th time.
England team news: Eddie Jones has made five changes to the side that lost to Wales, opting for power over subtlety in a revamped backline. Joe Cokanasiga and Ben Te’o are in at wing and centre respectively, while prop Ellis Genge, lock Joe Launchbury and flanker Brad Shields are also included.
Italy team news: Captain Sergio Parisse returns from injury, having been ruled out of Italy’s match against Ireland with concussion. Benetton flanker Sebastian Negri has also been selected, as does his club team-mate Luca Bigi, who starts as hooker.
Today's match officials
Referee: Nic Berry (Australia)
Touch judges: Paul Williams (New Zealand) and Andrew Brace (Ireland)
TMO: Simon McDowell (Ireland)
England v Italy line-ups
England: 15-Daly, 14-Cokanasiga, 13-Tuilagi, 12-Te’o, 11-May, 10-Farrell (capt), 9-Youngs; 1-Genge, 2-George, 3-Sinckler, 4-Kruis, 5-Launchbury, 6-Shields, 7-Curry, 8-Vunipola.
Replacements: 16-Cowan-Dickie, 17-Moon, 18-Cole, 19-Hughes, 20-Wilson, 21-Robson, 22-Ford, 23-Slade.
Italy: 15-Hayward, 14-Padovani, 13-Campagnaro, 12-Morisi, 11-Esposito, 10-Allan, 9-Tebaldi; 1-Lovotti, 2-Bigi, 3-Ferrari, 4-Ruzza, 5-Budd, 6-Negri, 7-Steyn, 8-Parisse (capt).
Replacements: 16-Ghiraldini, 17-Traore, 18-Pasquali, 19-Sisi, 20-Polledri, 21-Palazzani, 22-McKinley, 23-Castello.
Preamble
England host Italy at Twickenham as they attempt to get their Six Nations campaign back on track following defeat at the hands of Wales in a contest that was as brutal as it was epic last time out. The English have played Italy on 24 different occasions and beaten them every time, but Conor O’Shea’s side showed signs of life in their most recent outing against their head coach’s Irish compatriots, who they led at half-time before losing 26-16.
They remain bottom of the Six Nations table and few give them a snowball’s chance in hell of beating the English, but their coach remains defiant. “This is an Italy team that’s preparing to win,” said O’Shea. “Everybody thinks we’re delusional. But we’re sports people, we’re competitive people.” Kick-off at English rugby HQ is at 4.45pm (GMT) but stay tuned for team news and build-up in the meantime.
Updated
