It was the first Red Rose opening round Six Nations victory after four years of successive first-match defeats, as an England side featuring five uncapped players eventually squeezed home after a much improved second half at the Stadio Olimpico.
It came thanks to a try after the break by Alex Mitchell, to add to a first-half touchdown by Elliot Daly, and a rat-tat-tat of penalties off the tee which gave George Ford the 17-point goal-kicking haul that saw England edge it, despite being outscored three tries to two by the Italians.
It was Italy’s narrowest defeat by England, and it highlighted the eternal truth that offensive defence is a match-winner, because, after being rattled to the core by an Italian attack which created sparkling first-half tries for young scrum-half Alessandro Garbisi and full-back Tommy Allan, the visitors tightened their loose defensive bolts.
They did it by playing with the second-half rigour required to turn the tables after trailing 17-14 at the break, and there is the strong sense that Felix Jones, the World Cup-winning Springbok assistant coach who is now in charge of England’s defence, will have cracked the whip.
A backline in which the returning Henry Slade and his equally experienced colleague, Daly, were at sixes and sevens in the first half was transformed after the break with Slade, in particular, using his long kicking to peg Italy back, and leading a rush defence which put the clamps on the Azzurri attack.
Even so, England still conceded a late solo try to Monty Ioane which gave the home side a deserved losing bonus point. It showed that there is copious room for improvement in this partially reconstructed England side, but what was also apparent was that head coach Steve Borthwick has talented new players on which to build a competitive outfit.
ãã®èšäºã¯ The Rugby Paper ã® February 04, 2024 çã«æ²èŒãããŠããŸãã
7 æ¥éã® Magzter GOLD ç¡æãã©ã€ã¢ã«ãéå§ããŠãäœåãã®å³éžããããã¬ãã¢ã ã¹ããŒãªãŒã8,500 以äžã®éèªãæ°èã«ã¢ã¯ã»ã¹ããŠãã ããã
ãã§ã«è³Œèªè ã§ã ?  ãµã€ã³ã€ã³
ãã®èšäºã¯ The Rugby Paper ã® February 04, 2024 çã«æ²èŒãããŠããŸãã
7 æ¥éã® Magzter GOLD ç¡æãã©ã€ã¢ã«ãéå§ããŠãäœåãã®å³éžããããã¬ãã¢ã ã¹ããŒãªãŒã8,500 以äžã®éèªãæ°èã«ã¢ã¯ã»ã¹ããŠãã ããã
ãã§ã«è³Œèªè ã§ã? ãµã€ã³ã€ã³
Minikin sparks a party at Twickenham for Yorkshire
EUPHORIC scenes swept round Ionians ground as Lewis Minikin dashed over to score Yorkshire's fourth try to send the white rose to Twickenham for the first time in 16 years.
Rebels facing tough test against 'Canes
SUPER Rugby Pacific play-off spots were confirmed this weekend, with the soon-to-be extinct Melbourne Rebels living to fight another day in eighth place.
Ospreys' Nicky just too tricky for Cardiff
LEICESTER-BOUND, Smith scored Nicky two tries as Ospreys squeezed into the playoffs with a bonus-point victory over a battling Cardiff in an enthralling game.
Quins want to throw fitting farewell party
HARLEQUINS stars Shaunagh Brown, Rachael Burford and Emily Scott start their final game for the club today.
Mapletoft set for Georgia challenge
ENGLAND U20s head coach Mark Mapletoft has confirmed his 30-player squad that travel to Georgia next week in preparation for next month's World Championship.
Gloucester put faith in 'some old heads'
IT was typical of Gloucester's season - make that the last couple that when they came up against a front five in last weekend's Challenge Cup final that contained four World Cup winners they were missing three frontline forwards.
Smith has final say for Saints
NORTHAMPTON Saints, having run teams ragged in glorious fashion all season, scrummaged and muscled their way to their first Premiership final since 2014 but a resilient Saracens contested the issue until the final whistle.
Finally! Bath hold nerve to see off Sharks
BATH are one victory away from winning the Premiership for the first time after surviving a Sale comeback, but they are likely to be underdogs against a Northampton that has been a couple more years in the making.
Chessum 'gutted' to miss out on England
OLLIE Chessum admits he is \"gutted\" to be missing out on a busy summer with England in the southern hemisphere.
Boyd got me back on track - Ludlam
LEWIS left the Ludlam Franklin's Gardens turf in a Northampton jersey for perhaps the last time on Friday night, six years after he thought about ending his career because he feared it was going nowhere.