England Men defeat Italy in Rome
England have won the 2020 Guinness Six Nations after a bonus-point 34-5 win over Italy and the other results going their way.
Eddie Jones’ side ran in five tries as scrum half Ben Youngs scored twice as he became the second England men’s player to reach 100 caps after Jason Leonard, and hooker Jamie George who hit 50 caps also crossed the whitewash.
England moved top of the table with the win but had to wait for the result in the France-Ireland match where France won 35-25. It means Eddie Jones has won the Six Nations in three of the five years since he took charge in 2016.
England were the second game of three on Super Saturday and started on the front foot in Rome and were rewarded after five minutes when Owen Farrell’s break through the midfield on the halfway line sent centurion Youngs through to cruise in under the posts.
After Farrell added a simple penalty, Italy got themselves on the scoreboard when Gloucester No 8 Jake Polledri finished well in the corner after England had spilled the ball inside their own half.
There was a number of flashpoints in the first half with the two sets of forwards clashing but England led 10-5 after the first 40 minutes.
Youngs got his second try with a superb sniping effort, dummying from the base of the ruck to create space and then stepping a final defender within two minutes of the restart.
England continued their dominance after the restart and a well-constructed driving maul saw George dot down, before Tom Curry spotted a space down the blindside off the back of a ruck to run in from close range.
The fifth arrived from a well-weighted grubber from Farrell which Ben Earl gathered and off the floor popped up a pass to Henry Slade who stepped a defender to slide over.
England‘s win means they have won all 27 Test matches against Italy and have now scored at least four tries in their last seven matches against the Azzurri.
Landmarks
It turned into an even more special day for scrum half Youngs, 31, who made his England debut in March 2010 when he came on for Ugo Monye at the end of a Calcutta Cup game against Scotland at Murrayfield and spent half an hour on the wing.
He has played at the 2011, 2015 and 2019 Rugby World Cups, helping England to the final against New Zealand in Japan last year, with his two tries against Italy taking him to 16 for his country.
Youngs is only behind Jason Leonard (114 caps) when it comes to England men’s international appearances but behind Red Roses’ Rocky Clark (137 caps), Sarah Hunter (123 caps), Tamara Taylor (115 caps), Katy Daley-Mclean (114 caps) and now level with Amy Garnett (100 caps).
Hooker George, 30, made his England debut ahead of the 2015 Rugby World Cup when he faced France in a warm-up match and has been a regular in national squad for the past five years, and his score means he has four tries for his country so far.
There was also four players who began their England career with Exeter’s Jonny Hill in the starting VX, and Bath’s Tom Dunn, Worcester’s Ollie Lawrence and Gloucester’s Ollie Thorley all getting their first caps as finishers.
England’s 2020
England’s campaign started in disappointing fashion in Paris where despite two tries from Jonny May they were beaten 17-24.
England bounced back in horrible conditions in Edinburgh as they regained the Calcutta Cup for the first time with a 13-6 victory over Scotland as Ellis Genge scored the only try of the game.
The first game of the tournament at Twickenham saw an impressive three-try 24-12 victory over Ireland, before Eddie Jones’ side held off a late rally from Wales at The Home of England Rugby for a 33-30 victory.
With the coronavirus pandemic causing a seven-month break to the tournament, England finished with a 34-5 win in Rome and their first try bonus-point of the competition.
Teams
Italy
15. Matteo Minozzi, 14. Edoardo Padovani, 13. Luca Morisi, 12. Carlo Canna, 11. Mattia Bellini, 10. Paolo Garbisi, 9. Marcello Violi; 1. Danilo Fischetti, 2. Luca Bigi, 3. Giosuè Zilocchi, 4. Marco Lazzaroni, 5. Niccolò Cannone, 6. Sebastian Negri, 7. Braam Steyn, 8. Jake Polledri.
Replacements
16. Gianmarco Lucchesi, 17. Simone Ferrari, 18. Pietro Ceccarelli, 19. David Sisi, 20. Johan Meyer, 21. Maxime Mbanda, 22. Guglielmo Palazzani, 23. Federico Mori.
England
15. George Furbank, 14. Anthony Watson, 13. Jonathan Joseph, 12. Henry Slade, 11. Jonny May, 10. Owen Farrell, 9. Ben Youngs; 1. Mako Vunipola , 2. Jamie George,3. Kyle Sinckler, 4. Maro Itoje, 5. Jonny Hill, 6. Tom Curry, 7. Sam Underhill, 8. Billy Vunipola.
Finishers
16. Tom Dunn, 17. Ellis Genge, 18. Will Stuart, 19. Charlie Ewels, 20. Ben Earl, 21. Dan Robson , 22. Ollie Lawrence, 23. Ollie Thorley.
