Italy vs England LIVE: Six Nations rugby final score, result and reaction from Rome today
Follow latest updates from Rome as Eddie Jones’ side win their first game of the 2022 tournament
England showed the ruthless streak demanded by 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” 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 Azzurri.
England had stormed 21-0 ahead by half-time 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 Joe Marchant made way.
Ben Youngs eventually joined him at half-back 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. Follow the latest reaction from Rome:
Italy 0-21 England, 42 minutes
Razor sharp from Harry Randall! He races around the corner, Elliot Daly holding the defenders on the inside, Alex Dombrandt doing likewise outside the scrum-half, who shows and goes and races through a gaping hole.
England pour around the corner, but the pass to Kyle Sinckler is marginally forward as the fresh prop replacement looks to make his first significant dent. A couple more phases and a score looked a certainty.
Italy 0-21 England, 41 minutes
Italy have also made a halftime change on the tighthead - Tiziano Pasquali, formerly of Leicester, will do battle with a current Tiger in Ellis Genge.
Genge wins their first duel. Pasquali hits the deck under pressure. England penalty, and back down towards the Italian 22 go the visitors.
The second half begins!
Marcus Smith’s restart travels only nine-and-a-half metres so the first proper action of the half will be an Italian scrum on halfway...
Second half!
Kieran Crowley pens some final notes in his pad of paper high in the Italian coaches’ box, releasing what appears to be a disgruntled sigh. It looks like Will Stuart may be getting the half-time hook - he is standing with the substitutes as his England teammates emerge from the tunnel.
Yep, Kyle Sinckler is on.
Ten on ten
Jonny Wilkinson was purring about Marcus Smith before kick-off and the former England fly-half rather liked what he saw from the current occupier of the ten shirt in that first 40 minutes:
Another key Italian error
It’s not included in that clip, but that George score came from another Stephen Varney blind pass that went awry, the second time a moment of loose handling from the scrum-half has cost Italy in two weeks. There is clearly the nucleus of a good side in this Italian team, and again they have tackled strongly, but they cannot afford to have errors like that if they are to stay competitive in games.
They’ve produced some really inventive, well-executed flourishes in attack, particularly through Paolo Garbisi. But there always seems to be a sense of panic if Italy make rapid progress - can they improve in the second half and take a chance?
H/T: Italy 0-21 England
That felt a lot like the first half of France-Italy last weekend, with England obviously a superior side and playing with plenty of purpose, but unable to fully bust open a battling Italian defence. Marcus Smith has ran the show, with some lovely touches all around the park, but England have sometimes been guilty of hurrying their movements when they’ve made an initial break or half-break. You’d think they will be well placed to accelerate away if the game opens up, and that Jamie George score on the stroke of the interval will make them feel a whole lot better.
TRY! Italy 0-21 ENGLAND (Jamie George try, 40 minutes)
Something of real beauty from the front row! There is a load of space on the right, but it still needs to be found, and Ellis Genge is the somewhat unlikely architect. He throws a delectable miss ball off his left hand, with Jamie George on the end of the line able to line up a rumble for the corner.
He won’t bit Monty Ioane covering on the angle, but a dip of the shoulder enables him to ride Ioane’s contact and squirm forth just enough to reach for the line. Try number two for the England hooker and Marcus Smith’s conversion adds two more points.
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