England vs Italy result: Manu Tuilagi inspires eight-try rout of hapless Italians to keep title hopes alive

England 57-14 Italy: Eddie Jones’ side dismantled their hapless opposition to banish memories of defeat to Wales a fortnight ago

England banished the memories of their Cardiff defeat to remain hot on the heels of Wales Rugby at the top of the Six Nations table with a crushing 57-14 victory over a hapless Italy side at Twickenham.

Needing a big performance to restore confidence heading into next weekend’s Six Nations finale against Scotland, England’s big brutes of Manu Tuilagi, Ben Te’o and Joe Cokanasiga delivered emphatically, with the former scoring two tries more than five years since last crossing the whitewash in the red rose, and the latter announcing his arrival as one of the most gifted wings in international rugby.

There will be much bigger challenges for England to face than this Italian side that has now lost 21 straight Six Nations matches, but the way that the home side brutally tore apart their opponents with ease will not go unnoticed - along with the eight tries that came with it.

After Wales ensured that they will go into the final weekend as heavy favourites to reclaim the title, England knew they needed a performance that put whatever pressure possible on Warren Gatland’s side to ensure the title fight is far from over.

They got exactly that. While the first-half performance was not quite to the level of the one they produced here against France, it didn’t have to be. Italy were dreadful for long periods of the opening half, and with Conor O’Shea’s side facing serious questions about their Six Nations future - with or without World Rugby’s Nations League plans - this defeat did nothing for their long-term security.

It took England exactly 31 minutes and 53 seconds to secure the four-try bonus point, with Jamie George, Jonny May, Manu Tuilagi and Brad Shields all going over. In response, Italy mustered a well-taken try through fly-half Tommaso Allan that briefly levelled the scores at 7-7, but it was all downhill from there.

Tuilagi and Shields both crossed for their second tries after the break, sandwiching George Kruis’ charge-down-try and Dan Robson's maiden international score, while Italy’s only consolation came from centre Luca Morisi.

England have made a habit of fast starts here at Twickenham, and by their usual standards the eight minutes it took to cross the line was a sluggish start. But the tone was set from the very first penalty as Owen Farrell snubbed a kick at goal in the pursuit of tries. One such kick to touch had the desired effect, as the ensuing driving maul made mincemeat of the Italian pack and George was carried over for the simplest of tries.

Italy’s response suggested we had a game on our hands. Straight from the restart, they regathered possession and attacked from right to left on the edge of the 22, and after a strong carry from Wasps centre Michele Campagnaro, Allan smartly exposed Joe Launchbury to beat him on the outside shoulder with Cokanasiga’s attention elsewhere, and the stand-off dummied his way past Elliot Daly to reach out and score. His conversion levelled the scores, but the equilibrium didn’t last very long.

Manu Tuilagi scored twice in a standout performance (Reuters)

Much like Italy, England regained possession from the restart and found space out left for Daly to sneak through a gap between Campagnaro and Edoardo Padovani, with May on his left shoulder to gather the offload and sprint away to score. The try restored the lead and England did not look back from there.

That was largely due to the success that Tuilagi was having. It has been a long and painful five years since the centre had scored his last international try - against Italy in Rome - but that pent up frustration exploded out of him when he trucked over the unimpressive wing Angelo Esposito. Fending off Campagnaro for good measure, Tuilagi went the full 50 metres to score in the corner and continue his heart-warming return to the international stage.

With little more than 30 minutes on the clock, the bonus point was in the bag as Tuilagi again proved the destructive spark, fixing Allan and Edoardo Padovani to break through the line again and feed Shields on his inside shoulder for his first try since leaving New Zealand for England.

Brad Shields also crossed the line twice (Getty)

The hosts needed little time to pick up where they left off as Tuilagi again was over just seven minutes into the half. A lovely arcing run from Daly made good yards before the relentless Cokanasiga burst straight through the middle, and although Farrell had drifted to the blindside, the fly-half was smart enough to see the space on the right and through a long pass to Te’o. The centre, recalled to beef up England’s midfield in place of Henry Slade, passed on to George whose delightful miss-pass sent Tuilagi over for his second.

England released some of the pressure on the Italian throats to allow the opponents back into the game, and from it they put together their best period of possession to end up with centre Luca Morisi going over after 11 phases.

But it jolted England back into life and they were soon celebrating again when George Kruis charged down Jayden Hayward before regathering the ball to score besides the uprights. As the two benches were unloaded, it was England who coped the better, and once again Daly and Cokanasiga combined to send the wing away down the right, with the man-of-the-match unselfishly passing to replacement scrum-half Dan Robson to score his maiden try on his second appearance.

George Ford’s conversion brought up the 50 for England, but they weren’t done there as yet another chargedown from Kruis saw Titi Tebaldi’s box-kick squirt up in the air and into the hands of Shields to bag his second of the day and the cherry on a rich cake for England.

Teams

England: Elliot Daly; Joe Cokanasiga, Manu Tuilagi (Henry Slade, 62), Ben Te'o, Jonny May; Owen Farrell (George Ford, 62), Ben Youngs (Dan Robson, 62); Ellis Genge (Ben Moon, 59), Jamie George (Luke Cowan-Dickie, 59), Kyle Sinckler (Dan Cole, 56); Joe Launchbury (Nathan Hughes, 66), George Kruis, Brad Shields, Tom Curry (Mark Wilson, 56),

Italy: Jayden Hayward; Edoardo Padovani, Luca Morisi (Tommasco Castello, 23-33, Ian McKinley 33-40, Guglielmo Palazzani 62), Michele Campagnaro, Angelo Esposito; Tommaso Allan, Tito Tebaldi; Andrea Lovotti, Luca Bigi (Leonardo Ghiraldini, 49), Simone Ferrari (Tiziano Pasquali, 49); Federico Ruzza, Dean Budd (David Sisi, 49); Sebastian Negri (Jake Polledri, 49), Braam Steyn, Sergio Parisse (Cherif Traore, 62).