England got their Six Nations campaign back on track with a 33-0 bonus-point win in Italy on Sunday, as Jamie George scored two tries and Ben Youngs equalled his country’s test cap record.
An opening loss to Scotland was a bad start for Eddie Jones’s World Cup runners-up, but they made short work of the ill-disciplined Azzurri, who suffered their 34th consecutive defeat in the competition.
“We put a big emphasis on today, we were very disappointed after Murrayfield. Eddie [Jones] spoke about the next job and we have put ourselves back in it with that win today,” man-of-the-match Marcus Smith told ITV.
Smith scored his second try in two games and George crossed twice before the break, with Smith nailing all three conversions.
Elliot Daly sealed the bonus point with a try early in the second half and Kyle Sinckler added a late fifth, and England avoided conceding any points to Italy for the first time.
Youngs came on to equal Jason Leonard as England’s most capped men’s player in his 114th test appearance.
The result lifted England into second place on six points, three behind leaders France and ahead of Ireland on points difference. Italy remained bottom of the standings.
England host Wales at Twickenham in round three on Feb. 26, while Italy travel to Ireland the following day.
“I’ve never played here before, there was a special atmosphere, with loads of England fans having come out. We had to put a show on for them, we were a bit scrappy and credit to Italy but to score 33 points is always nice,” Smith added.
Jones responded to defeat in Edinburgh by making six changes, and he challenged his new-look side to “light up” the Italian capital.
They soon set about doing that, as Smith exchanged passes with Max Malins to bamboozle the Italian defence for the opening try after nine minutes.
The Azzurri’s discipline repeatedly let them down at both ends of the pitch, and one of the eight first-half penalties they conceded allowed England to kick to five metres out and build phases, before George bundled over the try line.
England wing Jack Nowell’s first Six Nations start since 2019 ended in a failed Head Injury Assessment, but his departure did not dampen the attacking threat of Jones’ side, who had a Maro Itoje try ruled out for obstruction.
The third score arrived with the final act of the first half, as prop Ellis Genge flung a miss pass wide to George, who barged his way over the line.
Five minutes into the second half, the bonus point was in the bag as Daly dotted down in the corner.
Italy spent much of the second half attacking in the English 22-metre area but could not capitalise on their territory and were repeatedly left frustrated by a solid England defence.
Malins offloaded to Sinckler for a simple finish under the posts, while a late Henry Slade try was ruled out for a knock-on.