England beat Italy to give coach Borthwick first win
England won their first match under coach Steve Borthwick as they overpowered Italy up front in a 31-14 Six Nations success at Twickenham on Sunday. Italy's pack were unable to cope with England's driving maul from close-range line-outs, while recalled centre Ollie Lawrence repeatedly made inroads into the Azzurri defence. Borthwick's reign had started with a 29-23 loss at home to Scotland last weekend in the first round of the tournament. But on Sunday his side surged into a commanding 19-0 lead at half-time after tries by forwards Jack Willis, Ollie Chessum and Jamie George. Italy, fresh from a highly creditable 29-24 defeat by reigning Six Nations champions France in Rome, arrived in London with genuine hope of a first win over England. But instead they suffered a 30th defeat in as many matches between the two nations. Marco Riccioni pulled a try back for Italy shortly after the break before another England line-out drive led to a penalty try and a yellow card for Azzurri replacement Simone Ferrari. Italy were not finished though, with replacement scrum-half Alessandro Fusco, only on the field for a matter of seconds, going over for a 63rd-minute try after a break by wing Tommaso Menoncello. But nine minutes from time, Henry Arundell put the result beyond doubt when he went over for a try following good work by fellow England replacement back Alex Mitchell. (AFP)