England go top with Joseph hat-trick
England began their Six Nations campaign with a battling 15-9 win over Scotland in Edinburgh last week. It prompted new England coach Eddie Jones to demand a 'smacking' of the tournament's perennial underachievers.
Yet England were unconvincing before the interval, although George Ford's 29th minute try gave the visitors an 11-9 lead as Carlo Canna hit three penalties for the hosts. It took until midway through the second period when Italy's errors began piling up, and later in the game, when Italy completely collapsed, for England to pile on the points.
Fresh from an inspirational 21-23-21 defeat to France in Paris, Italy proved resilient in a battling first half in which they did well to make up for the loss of three players due to injury. Gonzalo Garcia and Alessandro Zanni followed Marco Fuser in limping off prematurely but despite the losses, Italy dug in.
Canna, who made a positive impression on his Six Nations debut last week, stepped up to curl a penalty through the middle of the posts in the opening minutes. England levelled soon after thanks to Owen Farrell's 12th minute penalty from just inside Italy's 22, following a knock-on at the lineout.
Farrell was sent off to receive treatment after a crushing hit by Garcia, the centre returning to the fray after Canna hit his second penalty to level for the hosts shortly after George Ford had given England a brief 6-3 lead.
Italy called on Garcia's long-range kicking skills for a penalty that was 40 metres out on the right, but the big centre's effort was off target. It proved a costly miss, with Ford touching down near the left corner flag minutes later, after England recycled the ball brilliantly through Ben Youngs.
Italy suffered a blow when Garcia limped off seven minutes before the interval, moments after his grubber kick had helped push them into England's 22. But the hosts were able to reduce the arrears to 9-11 when Canna hit his third penalty after a high tackle by Youngs.
England looked on their way to a second try on the cusp of half-time when the ball was worked out to Jack Nowell, but the Azzurri defence held firm. Jones had kept six forwards on his replacements bench with the plan of a second half onslaught.
It duly came but was in large part thanks to a near general collapse of Italy's defensive game. England were lucky to avoid a yellow card when James Haskell tackled Luke McLean as the fullback leapt to catch the ball in mid-air.
Jones immediately replaced Youngs with Danny Care, and moments later Canna missed a crucial chance for a one-point lead by hitting his penalty wide. Italy were still holding their own but the game turned on Leonardo Sarto's ambitious pass to Luke McLean. With Joseph lurking, it was naive and the England centre intercepted to run in for the try.
Jones replaced Haskell with Maro Itoje for his England debut and the fresh legs paid dividends. Joseph had his second try when he ran onto Care's grubber, with Farrell's conversion taking the score to 25-9.
Farrell added another three points with a penalty from distance and further tries from Joseph and Farrell rounded off a forgettable day of rugby for the Azzurri.
Man of the match: Sergio Parisse did his best to get his team going while Michele Campagnaro was Italy's most industrious backline player. For England, George Ford showed some good touches and Owen Farrell brought the creative spark to their attack. Replacements Maro Itoje and Danny Care made massive impacts off the bench but our vote was pretty easy, hat-tick hero Jonathan Joseph.
Moment of the match: Jonathan Joseph's first try, which saw him collect a silly pass deep inside the Italian half, gets our award as it knocked the stuffing out of the hosts.
Villain of the match: None
Scorers:
For Italy:
Pens: Canna 3
For England:
Tries: Ford, Joseph 3, Farrell
Cons: Farrell 3
Pens: Farrell 2, Ford
Teams:
Italy: 15 Luke McLean, 14 Leonardo Sarto, 13 Michele Campagnaro, 12 Gonzalo Garcia, 11 Mattia Bellini, 10 Carlo Canna, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Sergio Parisse (captain), 7 Alessandro Zanni, 6 Francesco Minto, 5 Marco Fuser, 4 George Fabio Biagi, 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 2 Ornel Gega, 1 Andrea Lovotti.
Replacements: 16 Davide Giazzon, 17 Matteo Zanusso, 18 Martin Castrogiovanni, 19 Valerio Bernabo, 20 Andries van Schalkwyk, 21 Guglielmo Palazzani, 22 Edoardo Padovani, 23 Andrea Pratichetti.
England: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Anthony Watson, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Owen Farrell, 11 Jack Nowell, 10 George Ford, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 James Haskell, 6 Chris Robshaw, 5 George Kruis, 4 Courtney Lawes, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley (captain), 1 Mako Vunipola.
Replacements: 16 Jamie George, 17 Joe Marler, 18 Paul Hill, 19 Joe Launchbury, 20 Maro Itoje, 21 Jack Clifford, 22 Danny Care, 23 Alex Goode.
Agence France-Presse & @rugby365com
