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:
That just about concludes our live coverage of the weekend’s Six Nations action. France held off Ireland to emerge as favourites, Wales got their campaign up-and-running in squeezing out Scotland, and England did likewise with a performance of fits and starts against Italy.
The competition pauses to catch its breath, with a much-needed fallow weekend for the teams to enjoy and ready themselves for the next battles in a fortnight’s time. We’ll have all the latest news and views from inside the six camps throughout, and plenty more reaction and analysis to the opening two rounds across The Independent, but for now, farewell!
Marcus Smith stars as England register bonus-point victory over Italy in Rome
Eddie Jones’ side got their first win of the 2022 Six Nations with a comprehensive triumph over the Azzurri.
And finally, England head coach Eddie Jones
“Good performance. Started the game well, got a bit of a flow, defended well at the end. They are a tough team, they keep coming. If we were a bit tidier in some of our work, it could have been a big score.
“Italy have played against New Zealand and France and in the first half they have been in the game. They weren’t in the game today.
“I thought Marcus played well, Harry Randall did some good things at the start, and Alex Dombrandt had a solid game.”
Captain Tom Curry is also asked for his thoughts on the England win
“He’s amazing, isn’t he?” Curry says of Marcus Smith. “It helps when he has got options around him, but he is a brilliant individual. The thing you don’t see is how much of a competitor he is.
“It was tough week, we had to reflect hard on ourselves, coming from a tough loss at Murrayfield and against a tough team in Italy. We fought hard this week for each other, and it came to fruition for a lot of the game, I wouldn’t say all of it, but a lot of the game today.”
Ben Youngs equals England men’s appearance record after winning 114th cap
England scrum-half Harry Randall adds his thoughts
“That was awesome. We had a good week of prep, dug in really well and it is pleasing to keep them to zero. There are a few things to work on, but a good performance.
“We talked about our driving game against them, getting that going, but the breakdown let us down a little bit at times. We can scrub up on that a little bit.
“They stuck in there, and we expected them to. That is an area we can improve on, look at why we didn’t kick on in the second half. I think we can take a lot of confidence going forward.”
Marcus Smith has a chat after guiding England to a bonus point victory
“We put a big emphasis on this week. We had to pick ourselves up as a group and put ourselves back in the competition today.
“We were a bit scrappy in parts. Credit to Italy - they made our ball pretty scrappy at times.
“Loads to work on. We are still early on in our journey as a team but to win away from home in a tough position is good. Forwards were brilliant. We let them down last week at Murrayfield, but they gave us a good platform and quick ball today.”
F/T: Italy 0-33 England
England didn’t really sizzle or sparkle, but do get the Italian job done in Rome, heading into the first fallow week with a bonus point victory and their hosts nilled for the first time by England in the Six Nations. Marcus Smith had an afternoon of promise, and Jamie George and Ellis Genge featured prominently, too, but that was all a little average from England in attack, particularly in the second half.
No try! Italy 0-33 England, 81 minutes
Itoje had tried to pick and go from the breakdown, but teammate Sam Simmonds clung on to the ball as he did - there’s no knock-on from Itoje, such is the strength of Simmonds’ grasp.
Simmonds does release the ball for Exeter teammate Slade, who pushed for the line. He reaches out, but it appears Tiziano Pasquali’s timely punch on the extended ball as he tackles Slade might have jarred it free.
That’s the call of TMO Brian MacNeice in consultation with the referee, and with the clock in the red, that’ll be that for Round Two.
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