England overcome Italy scare as Alex Mitchell pounces to earn winning start

For the first time in five attempts since 2019 England have managed to win their opening Six Nations fixture. It did not come without the odd ripple of early alarm, particularly when Italy established a 17-8 lead in the first half, but tries from Elliot Daly and Alex Mitchell plus 17 points from George Ford’s boot ultimately kickstarted what Steve Borthwick’s squad are hoping will be a more productive campaign.

No one would remotely describe the visitors’ performance as perfect, as the new captain, Jamie George, had warned in advance. But squinting into the bright sun on a glorious Roman afternoon it was possible to see the beginnings of a team no longer as afraid of its own attacking shadow.

Tommy Freeman, in particular, added an extra dimension as a roaming wing, wearing 14 yet regularly popping up to pose a threat all over the field. England’s lineout was a cut above and by the end five new caps, including Chandler Cunningham-South and Manny Feyi-Waboso, had experienced their first taste of Test rugby. Another debutant, the Exeter flanker Ethan Roots, was named man of the match.

None of them could have wished for better conditions. There was not a breath of wind rustling the umbrella pines in the shimmering Villa Borghese and for those travelling England fans basking in the February sunshine it felt as if spring had arrived early. When George first dreamed of leading England in the Six Nations, he likely never considered the potential need to slap on some sunscreen before kick-off.

Nor did he probably bargain for the sight of Eddie Jones sitting in the stands. Now coach of Japan, Jones will be crossing samurai swords with England on two occasions later this year and the chance of an early sighter was clearly too good to miss. For his former charges there still seems to be no escape.

Initially, some bad old habits were also in danger of resurfacing. Three penalties inside the first six minutes gave Italy the chance to settle and, following an early penalty for offside kicked by Tommy Allan, it was the hosts who registered the game’s first try. Through a gap in the onrushing England defence surged the No 8 Lorenzo Cannone and the ball fell kindly for the scrum-half Alessandro Garbisi to score by the posts.

If a 10-0 lead felt too good to be true from Italy’s perspective, the ecstasy did not last long. Freeman is a player of genuine promise and he showed a glimpse of it here, slaloming over from his wing to provide the extra man and put Daly into the left corner. When England opt to play they have the players to cause some damage on the edges.

Then again, so do the Azzurri. A lovely little midfield flick from Juan Ignacio Brex opened up a little more space down England’s left-hand side and, with Freddie Steward isolated, a simple scoring pass from Tommaso Menoncello to Allan put the finger-waving full-back over for a second first quarter score. Great from an Italian perspective, too easy from the visitors’ point of view.

England needed to take the sting out of the contest and duly did so. Italy will not have minded hugely when England opted for a regulation three points from bang in front of the sticks rather than pushing for seven but Ford then banged over a second penalty inside five minutes to cut the half-time deficit to 17-14.

Having enjoyed the better of territory and possession in the opening 40 minutes, though, England had no reason to panic. Sure enough, within five minutes of the restart they were ahead, Mitchell twisting around and through the cover to score the kind of opportunistic try that is becoming his trademark.

Italy, making better decisions than they did in their wounding World Cup defeats by New Zealand and France, did their best to mount another surge but a missed penalty from Allan, which would have reduced the margin to just four points, always felt like it might be costly. At the other end, by contrast, Ford kept chipping over three pointers, useful on the day but denying England any chance of a try bonus point, with Daly also yellow carded late on for a trip. Italy did manage a losing bonus point, however, through Monty Ioane’s injury-time try.