England vs Italy player ratings: Owen Farrell endures 50th cap to forget as Ben Te'o delivers on his first start

Man-for-man marking during England's Six Nations clash with Italy

Jack de Menezes
Twickenham
Sunday 26 February 2017 23:14 GMT
Comments

England survived an almighty scare to defeat Italy 36-15 to ensure they remain on course for a second Six Nations Grand Slam in succession, but it did not go without its controversy.

Te Italian side deployed a defensive tactic rarely seen in rugby union, as they simply refused to compete at the breakdown, meaning that no ruck could form and subsequently no offside line to obey.

That meant that the Italian defenders could legally stand in a conventional offside position without fear of sanction, much to England's frustration as the players and fans voiced their anger.

Italy led at half-time 10-5, with Dan Cole's opening try being cancelled out by a score from Giovanbattista Venditti when England failed to deal with a Tommasso Allan penalty that cannoned back off the post.

But any adjustment Eddie Jones made at half-time certainly worked as England scored tries through Danny Care, Elliot Daly, Ben Te'o and two from the replacement, Jack Nowell, to complete the bonus-point victory that ensures England remain unbeaten in the 16 games under Eddie Jones, and takes their 17-match winning streak to within one of the world record, held by New Zealand.

So who performed for England to help inspire the turnaround, and who has plenty of training to do over the next two weeks?

Click on the gallery above to see out England ratings.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in