England beat Italy to give Borthwick first win as coach / Photo: Ben Stansall - AFP
England beat Italy to give Borthwick first win as coach
England won their first match under coach Steve Borthwick as they overpowered Italy up front in a 31-14 Six Nations success at Twickenham on Sunday.
Italy's pack were unable to cope with England's driving maul from close-range line-outs, while recalled centre Ollie Lawrence repeatedly made inroads into the Azzurri defence.
Borthwick's reign had started with a 29-23 loss at home to Scotland last weekend in the first round of the tournament.
But on Sunday his side surged into a commanding 19-0 lead at half-time after tries by forwards Jack Willis, Ollie Chessum and Jamie George.
Italy, fresh from a highly creditable 29-24 defeat by reigning Six Nations champions France in Rome, arrived in London with genuine hope of a first win over England.
But instead they suffered a 30th defeat in as many matches between the two nations.
Marco Riccioni pulled a try back for Italy shortly after the break before another England line-out drive led to a penalty try and a yellow card for Azzurri replacement Simone Ferrari.
Italy were not finished though, with replacement scrum-half Alessandro Fusco, only on the field for a matter of seconds, going over for a 63rd-minute try after a break by wing Tommaso Menoncello.
But nine minutes from time, Henry Arundell put the result beyond doubt when he went over for a try following good work by fellow England replacement back Alex Mitchell.
V.Barbieri--IM
