England crush sorry Italy at Twickenham

England continued their pursuit of the Six Nations with an emphatic 57-14 win over Italy at Twickenham on Saturday. The win leaves England second in the table, a point adrift of Wales who made it one step closer to a Grand Slam with a hard thought 18-11 win over Scotland.

Easy day for England

This was the perfect day out for England, as they ensured Italy’s winless run in the Six nations was stretched even further (their last win came way back in 2015). England Head Coach Eddie Jones will have been pleased with the variety of scorers throughout his team, as Jamie George, Johnny May, George Kruis and Dan Robson all picked up tries, whilst the impressive Manu Tuilagi and Brad Shields picked up two each.

It was another disappointing day for the Azurri, who were often the masters of their own downfall. With a large amount of individual errors, poor communication and lackluster cohesion among the backline contributing to the Three Lions’ easy victory. With the likes of Tuilagi in such exhilarating form, any mistakes were emphatically punished as England were able to cross the line far too often.

A special mention goes out to Man of the Match Joe Cokanasiga, who, despite not getting on the scoreline, was the chief creator for Jones’ men with deft offloads and an amazing spark in the middle of the pitch. The Azurri couldn’t live with him and Tuilagi, and the result could have been even worse had it not been for a very impressive individual performance from Tommaso Allan, who had briefly brought Italy level with a fine try.

Owen Farrell continued his fine kicking form, notching up four conversions and one penalty. Even when Farrell was replaced after 62 minutes, George Ford took on kicking duties and was able to comfortably add three of his own conversions.

Heading into the business end of the tournament

England host Scotland next up, and will be looking to avenge the unsavoury defeat they suffered in last year’s Six Nations up at Murrayfield. However, if they are to gain an unlikely victory in this year’s Championships, they will be relying on a favour from last year’s winners Ireland.

Ireland travel to Cardiff next week, with Wales eyeing their first Grand Slam since 2012. An Ireland victory would hand the onus back onto England, who will play following the result of the Wales game. Last year’s winners have endured a difficult tournament, but a victory over Wales could be the perfect catalyst for the World Cup later this year, which will be hosted in Japan for the first time.

It promises to be a thrilling end to the Six Nations, Wales have the advantage and hold their own destiny – but face a battle against the team currently ranked second in the World, and only a victory will do.