England blow hot and cold again

Italy 19 England 23: One day England will finish the same way they start and Brian Ashton's life will be far less stressful.

The visitors did at least avoid becoming the first English team to lose to the Azzurri but their margin of victory in the Roman sunshine yesterday was the slimmest in the history of this fixture. Either there is something in the half-time oranges or Ashton's men are worryingly short of killer instinct.

Had Italy possessed anything like Wales's cutting edge behind the scrum, the beaten corpse might have clambered from the coffin for the second week running. This time England turned around 20-6 ahead, the job seemingly more than half done. Yet instead of applying the coup de grace, they did precisely the opposite and were relieved to hear the final whistle.

A win is a win but this was scarcely the soothing outcome Ashton wanted.

If a new car spluttered and coughed as much as this England side you would take it straight back to the garage. Given six injury-enforced changes and a new captain in Steve Borthwick following the withdrawal of Phil Vickery, a certain unevenness was probably inevitable but England invariably do the hard part before easing off the accelerator. No blame can be attached to Borthwick, who played an important role in disrupting the Italian lineout, or Nick Easter, an influential presence in his first game for six weeks. The defence was mostly secure, Jamie Noon doing well in midfield. Without early tries from Paul Sackey and Toby Flood, however, it could have been a very different story.

It was also impossible to ignore the latest twist in the developing soap opera involving Jonny Wilkinson and his up-and-coming rival for the England jersey, Danny Cipriani. Even Wilkinson's achievement in becoming the first man to score 1,000 Test points for England could not save him from being substituted in the 67th minute as Ashton sought to inject more spark.

There was a time when hauling off England's totem would have been seen as virtual treason but Ashton is clearly among those who feel Cipriani's rare talent must be encouraged as a matter of urgency. If Wilkinson was unhappy he did not let it show and he remained impassive too when his 20-year-old replacement had a clearance kick charged down by the debutant Italian scrumhalf Simon Picone for a try that altered the complexion of the game's final moments. We have not heard the last of this intriguing sub-plot.

As at Twickenham last week, there was little initial clue England would finish as they did. They had a try on the board after three minutes, Wilkinson having cleverly chipped the defence, gathered his own kick and flicked a gorgeous offload sideways out of the tackle to Sackey, who surged 30 metres to score his sixth try in 12 Tests. When Wilkinson converted from wide out it seemed a statement of intent individually and collectively.

With Italy's passing laboured and their converted outhalf Andrea Masi once again unwilling to kick except in emergency, it seemed there would be no way back for the hosts after a turnover and a slightly fortunate bounce set up Jamie Noon through the middle and Toby Flood outpaced Masi to dive athletically into the corner.

Wilkinson, needing the conversion to reach four figures in his 67th game for England, nailed a beauty from the touchline, a fitting way to confirm his status as the most prodigious kicker of the modern era.

What was not in the script was England's sudden loss of impetus, albeit softened by two more long-range Wilkinson penalties before the interval.

It must have been maddening for Ashton and his management team. To take a potentially tricky contest by the throat only to relax that grip is the sort of thing to drive coaches to distraction. Silly penalties were conceded at the breakdown and David Bortolussi kicked every chance he was given.

Wilkinson proved unable to wrench back the tactical initiative and his attempts to establish territory proved increasingly unsuccessful.

As the second half wore on, England began to look becalmed, so Ashton decided to gamble and nearly paid a horrible price. Cipriani did manage one important tap tackle as Italy belatedly threatened out wide but instantly picking up the pace of Test match rugby, as the debutant Richard Wigglesworth also discovered, is an acquired skill. Picone's scavenging instincts were duly rewarded and Bortolussi's conversion left England four points ahead with three minutes left.

They made it to the finishing post but England's next stop is Paris on Saturday week, and only a concerted 80-minute effort will be good enough.

• Guardian Service

ITALY: Bortolussi: Robertson, Canale, Mirco Bergamasco, Galon; Masi, Travagli; Lo Cicero, Ghiraldini, Castrogiovanni; Dellape, Del Fava; Sole, Mauro Bergamasco, Parisse (capt). Replacements: Perugini for Lo Cicero (53 mins), Picone for Travagli (58 mins), Nieto for Castrogiovanni (62 mins), Sgarbi for Canale, (Festuccia for Ghiraldini (both 66 mins), Marcato for Masi (78 mins), Zanni for Dellape (79 mins)

ENGLAND: Balshaw; Sackey, Noon, Flood, Vainikolo; Wilkinson, Gomarsall; Payne, Regan, Stevens; Shaw, Borthwick (capt); Haskell, Lipman, Easter. Replacements: Mears for Regan (59 mins), Wigglesworth for Gomarsall (62 mins), Narraway for Easter (68 mins), Cipriani for Wilkinson (71 mins), Kay for Shaw (80 mins). Not used: Hobson, Tait.

Referee: Alain Rolland(Ireland).