 that the ball came off Chris Robshaw, Clancy stuck to his guns.
Soon it was England on the attack again, Care and Brad Barritt’s quick work allowing Manu Tuilagi to bulldoze ahead repeatedly. Deft hands and momentum from Flood and Vunipola allowed Ashton to collect and sprint towards the posts before he was targeted and swiftly shut down. With plenty of space out to the left, England should have used the three men they had over but Flood went himself only to be obviously held up.
England quickly lost all momentum, penalised on their attacking 5m scrum, turned over in the midfield then giving away a penalty from a knock on; Italy then stole the homeside’s lineout on England’s 22. A knock on from the Azzurri finally returned possession back to England just outside the 22, and also lost Castro to injury, replaced by Lorenzo Cittadini.
Italy retrieved possession back in their own territory, but a charge down from Flood released Mike Brown to chase the ball towards the Azzurri 22, only to be halted by Clancy’s whistle again. Edoardo Gori was sent to the bin for obstructing Flood off the ball, leaving Italy with 14 men for the remaining 10 minutes of the half.
The resulting 5m lineout put England back on the attack but Italy turned over the ball from Barritt’s hands deep in their own 22. An excellent turnover from England put the ball deftly through Care, Goode, Tuilagi to Ashton whose pass inside bounced off Joshua Furno instead of finding Flood, and deemed forward found Italy with a scrum on their own 22, with Tobias Botes at scrum replacing Andrea Masi.
A knock on reversed the scrum, handing Flood a conducive position for a penultimate penalty kick at the uprights before half time, stretching the gap to 9-3. England had one more opportunity to score a try as the clock turned 40 with a lineout on the Azzurri 22, and excellent work from the forwards took them close but Geoff Parling’s foot found touch. However, a mystery penalty was awarded to England and Flood knocked over a final 3-pointer before the whistle, leaving the homeside in front 12-3.
Any hope England would return renewed to play a more attacking game getting over the hurdles they hit in the first 40 minutes was shortlived; the second half was a reversal of fortune for Italy in terms of both possession and territory, and England continued to be incapable of finishing any attacking move.
After some intensity from Italy early on -back up to 15 men and Masi back on for Botes- the homeside started with Flood increasing the lead to 15-3, maintaining a 100% record while Parling received treatment on his shoulder. Interestingly, England coach Mike Catt intimated the previous day if they won through kicking alone, he would take it. This would be the case.
Courtney Lawes replaced Parling as England gave a penalty at the scrum, allowing Orquera to cancel out Flood’s 3-pointer within 2 minutes. Then in as short a time, it was Orquera who provided the chip ahead to the corner following England’s lineout outside their own 22, neatly collected by McLean to pop over for a soft try. The conversion flew across both uprights but Italy notched up 8 points in 4 minutes.
Tom Croft returned to the field after 8 months out for a broken neck injury, replacing James Haskell with half an hour remaining. Meanwhile, England continued to show a lack of composure, but lucky for them Orquera’s penalty kick at the uprights went wide, keeping the homeside ahead by 4 points at 15-11.
England prepared to bring on more replacements earlier than the 60 minute norm, with Ben Youngs and Joe Marler on for Care and Vunipola. Italy also made changes with Botes returning for Gori, and Davide Giazzon for Leonardo Ghiraldini.
Into the final quarter and from a lineout inside Italy’s 22, England struggled to get over the gainline, but had a penalty coming which Flood converted into the final score of 18-11, though 18 minutes remained of the match.
The final quarter saw Italy empty their bench, while England replaced all but Freddie Burns. An attritional defensive battle ensued from the opposing sides, but Italy retained the upper hand through much of the second half.
A defensive scrum from England was rescued by Tuilagi but a knock put Italy back in an attacking position, and from the setpiece, McLean broke down the wing again pulled down deep in England’s 22; a foot in touch gave Tom Youngs another defensive lineout.
Flood made 30m from own territory into the Azzurri’s before he was isolated, and eventually McLean made yet another break back over halfway, shut down by Ashton. But the attacks were relentless and for 8 minutes, bar 60 seconds back in the Italian half, the Azzurri arrived like crashing waves just metres short of the England tryline. The homeside finally found their composure and held out the Italian invasion.
A final turnover as the clock turned red, and Ben Youngs kicked the ball into touch, both teams exhausted, and Italy convincingly taking England to task despite the loss. Masi won Man of the Match, and tipped England for the Grand Slam, but Italy undoubtedly gave Wales hope of a chance to steal the Championship from under the leaders’ nose.
Italy 0-3 Wales 7mins Leigh Halfpenny tees up.  Ball sails through.
Italy 3-9 Wales 21mins Welsh scrum. Italy really struggling with their scrummaging. Wales collect ball from scrum.
Italy 3-9 Wales 24mins Italian lineout secured on H/W. Italy try a cheeky chip but Biggar catches.
Italy 9-26 Wales 79mins Scrum goes well & Wales driving forwards to seal the match with points.
England 0-0 France 0min kicks off in front of roaring crowd at Twickers & 1st pen to home side...
England 3-3 France 6mins Big French presence in North stand - makes for excellent atmosphere...
England 3-3 France 16mins England take back possession & head over French 10m; small break from Chris Ashton...
England 3-3 France 18mins France scrum outside England 10m...the real France have pitched up today!
England 3-3 France 22mins England make some yards towards 22 but French t/o...
England 6-8 France 29mins Spectacular break from Wesley Fofana from b/d & leaves Ben Youngs & Ashy in wake to score!
England 6-10 France 32mins England retaliate by heading up to French 22 but great defence holds them back...
England 12-10 France 49mins From restart, France win L/O on England 10m but spill ball fwd as Ben Y makes 1st break...
England 23-13 France 76mins Crowd convinced its going thru & cheer before even H/W there - it did!
England 23-13 France 79mins L/O outside French 22 & Les Bleus clear, forcing England back into own 22...
England 23-13 France 80mins France still in possession & up to England 22; t/o ball & Ashy runs it into touch...
England 23-13 France 80mins Handbags drawn again between Care & Michalak on touch line & few more join in...
Scotland 0-0 Ireland 4mins Good clearance but pen Ireland for infringement at B/D on Irish 10m. Ref is Wayne Barnes!
Scotland 0-0 Ireland 16mins Paddy J's kick doesn't have result Ireland hoped for but play still in Scottish half...
Scotland 0-0 Ireland 24mins Irish lose brilliant scoring opportunity as Keith Earls breaks but doesn't offload...
Scotland 0-0 Ireland 25mins...to waiting Brian O'Driscoll as he's bundled into touch.
Scotland 0-0 Ireland 33mins Irish retain possession 5m out but not going forward; back up to 22 & attack again...
Scotland 0-3 Ireland 38mins Irish up to 22; BOD chips thru but into touch & Scots L/O H/W between 10 & 22.
Scotland 0-3 Ireland 40mins Back for 2nd half & Scots doing great job of slowing ball down...
Scotland 0-3 Ireland 42mins Sean O'Brien makes great break but slips; recycling good & only 3m from Scots T/L...
Scotland 3-8 Ireland 56mins Scots ball on H/W & clear to just outside Irish 22 for L/O...
Scotland 9-8 Ireland 69mins Eoin Reddan replaces Conor Murray at scrum half & more changes to come...
Scotland 9-8 Ireland 70mins Scots possession in own territory but Laidlaw clears way over H/W.
Scotland 9-8 Ireland 72mins Goes long & 22 Irish restart- ball flies both ways til Ireland kick backwards into own 22!
Scotland 12-8 Ireland 74mins Laidlaw clocks up 4th pen to widen gap slightly but Irish still have time to catch up...
Scotland 12-8 Ireland 77mins Didn't look awfully straight but anyway; Irish worked width of T/L still 5m out...
Scotland 12-8 Ireland 79mins Scrum goes to Scotland again after Reddan practically climbs on Scots