England secure bonus-point win over Italy
England defeated Italy 31-14 in the second round of the Guinness Six Nations at Twickenham Stadium.
Scores from Jack Willis, Ollie Chessum, Jamie George, Henry Arundell and a penalty try, as well as four points from the boot of Owen Farrell secured the victory, as the hosts held off a game Italy side whose tries came from Marco Riccioni and Alessandro Fusco.
England showed early attacking promise from the lineout. First, Ellis Genge combined with Farrell as the fly half threaded a low kick to the corner for the onrushing Max Malins, who was just beaten to the ball by Edoardo Padovani. Then on 11 minutes, flanker Willis peeled off the back of a five metre lineout rolling maul to score the opener. Farrell added the extras for a 7-0 lead.
Lorenzo Cannone was shown a yellow card for a dangerous infringement at the lineout as half hour approached, and the hosts took immediate advantage of the extra man, as heavy runners trucked it up toward the Italian line. Genge made a positive carry and showed superb skill to free up an arm and provide a late flick into the hands of Chessum, who duly took his first Test try, and Farrell added two points to open a 14-0 lead.
Another England score moments later, created by Malins and finished by Jack van Poortvliet, was chalked off as centre Ollie Lawrence was deemed to have interfered with an Italian defender leading up the the score. But George barrelled over for England's third on the stroke of half time, off the back of another dominant lineout rolling maul.
The half time stats showed a competitive affair: Borthwick's men with more possession (53%) and metres made (151) while Italy boasted more defenders beaten (11), passes (80) and carries (54).
Kieran Crowley's charges scored early into the game's resumption, as prop Riccioni trundled over from close range and Tommaso Allan's conversion closed the gap to 19-7, but the ascendancy was restored at 51 minutes, as referee James Doleman awarded England a penalty try - securing a bonus-point - and sent Simone Ferrari to the sin bin.
Alex Mitchell entered the match on the hour mark to make his Six Nations debut, as Italy replacement Fusco - himself only on the pitch minutes - darted through a gap to bag the visitors' second try, cutting the deficit to 12 points.
With 10 minutes to play England found themselves pitched 10 metres from the Azzurri line, when scrum half Mitchell explored the blindside, sucking in blue forwards, before offloading to the waiting Arundell - the winger calmly dotting the ball down in the corner for his second try in four appearances.
Hooker Jack Walker made his debut from the bench as the match entered its final minutes, and despite some late attack from Italy, England held on to their 31-14 lead - stretching their unbeaten run against the Azzurri in the Six Nations to 24 games.
Teams
England
Starting
15. Freddie Steward, 14. Max Malins, 13. Henry Slade, 12. Ollie Lawrence, 11. Ollie Hassell-Collins, 10. Owen Farrell (C) , 9. Jack van Poortvliet, 1. Ellis Genge (VC), 2. Jamie George, 3. Kyle Sinckler, 4. Maro Itoje, 5. Ollie Chessum, 6. Lewis Ludlam, 7. Jack Willis, 8. Alex Dombrandt.
Replacements
16. Jack Walker, 17. Mako Vunipola, 18. Dan Cole, 19. Nick Isiekwe, 20. Ben Earl, 21. Alex Mitchell, 22. Marcus Smith, 23. Henry Arundell.
Italy
15. Ange Capuozzo; 14. Edoardo Padovani, 13. Juan Ignacio Brex, 12. Luca Morisi, 11. Tommaso Menoncello; 10. Tommaso Allan, 9.Stephen Varney; 1. Danilo Fischetti, 2. Giacomo Nicotera, 3. Marco Riccioni; 4. Niccolo Cannone, 5. Federico Ruzza; 6. Sebastian Negri, 7. Michele Lamaro (capt), 8. Lorenzo Cannone
Replacements
16. Luca Bigi, 17. Federico Zani, 18. Simone Ferrari, 19. Edoardo Iachizzi, 20. Jake Polledri, 21. Manuel Zuliani, 22. Alessandro Fusco, 23. Pierre Bruno.
Fixtures & Results
England 23 - 29 Scotland
England 31 - 14 Italy
25 Feb - Wales v England - Cardiff
11 Mar - England v France - Twickenham
18 Mar - Ireland v England - Dublin
