Steve Borthwick and Owen Farrell believe England took ‘a step forward’ as they dismantled Italy to give the new head coach lift-off with a 31-14 Six Nations victory at Twickenham.
Jack Willis was at the heart of a comprehensive bonus-point win, scoring the opening try and leading the defensive effort, two years after suffering career-threatening knee damage in the same fixture.
But that memory was swept away by leading the resistance against the Azzurri in his first start since an injury that forced him out for a year.
When the flanker was replaced by Ben Earl in the 53rd minute, he had made 20 tackles, eight more than his closest challenger Kyle Sinckler.
Ollie Chessum, Jamie George and Henry Arundell also crossed for the dominant hosts, in addition to a penalty try, to give Borthwick, whose side began his reign by losing to Scotland, his first triumph since replacing Eddie Jones in December. ‘In terms of the performance it felt better than last week,’ said England captain Farrell.
‘A step forward as it would be a week on in our new journey. It is a step in the right direction.’
He added: ‘We are trying to learn how (we have to) play. We are starting off fighting for 80 minutes, fighting for each other and building relationships.’
Borthwick was satisfied with victory and agreed with Farrell when he said: ‘We took some steps forward today, it’s an important thing to recognise.
‘Ultimately we left some chances out there, our ball speed could have been quicker and we conceded a few (points) we didn’t want to.’
Some of the gloss was rubbed away by Italy being allowed back into the game in the final quarter but a simple finish for Arundell with ten minutes remaining sealed victory.
Gatland knows Wales must find quick fix
Warren Gatland has called on struggling Wales to show their mettle after heavy defeats in their opening two Six Nations matches.
The head coach admitted his team appear to be short of confidence after losses to Ireland and Scotland, who won 34-10 on Saturday.
Gatland conceded Wales face a test of character in their next match at home to England. He said: ‘We were probably a little quiet on a few occasions and that’s probably down to a little bit of a lack of confidence.
‘We’re in a bit of a hole. It is about being tight as a group but also being critical of the things we know we can fix. We’ve got to do it pretty quickly.’
There was little evidence of Italy’s recent improvement in a largely one-sided affair before the break and England always looked destined to preserve a flawless record against their rivals which now reads 30 wins.
Willis struck the first blow, barrelling over to finish a perfectly executed line-out maul and Farrell’s conversion opened up a 7-0 lead.
Number eight Lorenzo Cannone was sent to the sin-bin as Italy came under heavy pressure and they cracked again when waves of forward carries ended with Ellis Genge sending Chessum over to touch down.
The third try then arrived with George scoring after another well-honed line-out drive.
Italy started the second half with far greater purpose and went over through prop Marco Riccioni only to concede a penalty try before Simone Ferrari visited the sin-bin.
Replacement Alessandro Fusco rounded off a lively Italian spell by jinking over but England responded with Arundell racing clear.
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