England survive scare against Italy to earn Six Nations victory after comeback

03 February 2024 , 16:32

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Alex Mitchell scores England's second try against Italy (Image: Getty Images)

England came from behind to beat Italy after making hard work of their opening Six Nations clash in Rome.

An early try from Alessandro Garbisi put the hosts into a 10-0 lead, before a beauty of a try from Tommaso Allan stretched the gap again after Elliott Daly had pulled one back. But England were able to gradually edge themselves back on Italy's tail, with George Ford kicking two penalties over before half-time.

A try from Alex Mitchell then put England ahead for the first time in the match, before two more Ford penalties had Steve Borthwick's side on the verge of victory, while a late Monty Ioane try proved to be just a consolation for Italy.

It was a big scare for England at the Stadio Olimpico as they launched their post-World Cup rebuild. It was only the third time in the history of a rivalry spanning 31 Tests that inspired Italy led at the interval, but they were methodically picked apart by Borthwick’s men.

Tommy Freeman proved England’s most effective weapon in attack, the Northampton wing roaming the pitch in search of impactful moments. As promised by new captain Jamie George, the favourites played with greater freedom and there was less kicking than in the first year of Borthwick’s reign, at least until the focus switched to grinding Italy down in the final half-hour.

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But overall the more exciting rugby was played by the Azzurri, who showed ingenuity and ambition in their pursuit of a maiden victory against their rivals. New caps Ethan Roots, Fraser Dingwall, Fin Smith, Chandler Cunningham-South and Immanuel Feyi-Waboso brought a freshness to England, who ended their four-year stretch of beginning the Six Nations with a defeat, but the initial outlook was far less rosy.

Elliot Daly scored England's first try against Italy (Simon Dael/REX/Shutterstock)

They lost replacement prop Ellis Genge to a foot injury shortly before kick-off and that was only the start of their problems as early enterprise from Italy engineered a try for Alessandro Garbisi. It rewarded their brighter start and came when Lorenzo Cannone was sent through a gap, with Garbisi able to scoop up the offload.

With Allan and Ford exchanging penalties the score read 10-3, but the deficit provided the jolt England needed as Freeman glided into space and delivered the scoring pass to Daly. The try had been coming but it was quickly overshadowed by a stunning riposte from Italy, whose precise passing and clever running off set-piece ball was executed beautifully for Allan to score.

Two penalties by Ford kept England snapping at the Azzurri’s heels at half-time and they needed to regroup quickly, particularly in defence, to spare themselves an unwanted slice of history. Reassurance came when Mitchell jinked and spun his way over the whitewash in the 45th minute and for the first time the visitors led.

George Ford scored five penalties to help England to victory (PA)

Italy’s play now lacked its earlier precision and they were pinned deep in their own half as England tightened the screw with Ford landing successive penalties to propel them 10 points ahead. Handling errors cost the Azzurri time and again and their line-out continued to malfunction in an exasperating period for the hosts that also saw Allan miss an important penalty.

Daly was sent to the sin-bin for a trip as Italy hunted the try that would haul them back into contention, but they were unable to produce any more magic as the upset slipped from their fingertips despite a last-gasp Ioane touch down.

Darren Wells