By Ethan Bents
England piled on seven tries to secure a bonus point win and beat Italy in entertaining fashion at the Allianz Stadium.
Ollie Sleightholme scored a brace with Marcus Smith coming off the bench to also touch down.
Tom Willis, Tommy Freeman, Tom Curry and Ben Earl also went over the white-wash for the hosts.
Ange Capuozzo, Ross Vintcent and Tommaso Menoncello got the tries for the Italians.
On a glorious day for rugby, hope still remained for the 70,000 home fans at the Allianz Stadium who were dreaming of a long awaited Six Nations title.
Four years had passed since England last lifted the prestigious trophy but after France ended Ireland’s Grand Slam dreams in Dublin, the door swung right open for Steve Borthwick‘s side.
The decision to drop Marcus Smith dominated headlines in the week, but this gave Elliot Daly a first test start at 15 in four years.
For Italy, it was an opportunity to put the horrors of France in Rome last fortnight behind them, with a big performance needed.
Match Action
With the sunshine beaming down, England opened the game in thrilling fashion, scoring within three minutes as Willis touched down.
Ollie Lawrence was soon forced off injured, which led to Smith replacing him. After a week of debate around the decision to drop him, the young talisman was immediately back on the field.
But against the run of play, Italy hit back with a try worthy of a place in the Louvre. The visitors spread the ball wide before Monty Ioane put a lovely chip in behind the England defence, which bounced effortlessly into the hands of Capuozzo to score.
The Azzurri then began playing with real flair, passing it around like a classic All Blacks team but fly half Paolo Garbisi missed a penalty to keep their scoreboard ticking over.
The English came back fighting. A delicious kick from Elliot Daly was hunted down by Freeman who capitalised on Capuozzo’s poor positioning to score.
Another moment of sheer brilliance put the Italian’s back level. Capuozzo made up for his previous error to carve through the England defence before offloading to Vintcent who sold a delightful dummy and had enough speed to reach the line. Garbisi converted to close the gap.
But England responded immediately again. Fast phases in the Italian twenty-two gave Sleightholme an easy run in, in the corner. Fin Smith added the extras with a tremendous kick.
A thoroughly entertaining half which England edged slightly by four points.
Second Half
England started the half exactly how they did the first, in rampant fashion.
M Smith created a bit of magic using his twinkle toes to gorgeously step through the Italian defence, leaving him nothing but green space to fly into and score.
Curry solidified a fantastic start to the half as he powered through the Roman soldiers to give England a comfortable lead.
The crucial bonus point had been achieved. The importance of this in the upcoming final round could not be understated.
England’s storm was not showing any signs of stopping though.
The hosts were beginning to really enjoy themselves, offloading freely with confidence oozing. The giant Maro Itoje powered his way through several bodies before some exquisite passing let Sleightholme score his brace in the corner.
From just 15 minutes of mayhem in the second half, the Italians had found themselves with more than a mountain to climb.
The game began to slow down, but the Allianz Stadium soon rose to their feet as centurion Jamie George was replaced by Luke Cowan-Dickie. A momentous feat.
With 10 minutes left, Menoncello got a try which felt like nothing more than a consolation for the Italians, with the competitiveness of the game having faded after England’s ruthless start to the second half.
In the final play of the game, Ben Earl ran over to punish a weary Italian side who couldn’t perform to the level they did in the first forty.
A huge victory for England who moved to second in the table.
All eyes on Super Saturday…
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