England 39 Italy 7: After a season in the Six Nations basement Saturday's outcome was 39 steps in the right direction for England. Head coach Andy Robinson did not care if the script lacked any hint of Buchanesque suspense; a sequence of four straight defeats is over and his rebuilding plans can proceed against Scotland next Saturday with fewer vultures circling the drawing board.
Until yesterday's latest injury blow for Jonny Wilkinson there were even reasons for Robinson to be cheerful: Martin Corry had a splendid game on his first outing as captain, Iain Balshaw put a bit of va-va-voom back into England's back line, Mark Cueto bagged an expert hat-trick and Jamie Noon had another quietly impressive day at outside centre. Add in a couple of eye-catching cameos from the replacements Andy Titterell and Matt Dawson and there was a glimmer of a bright new England.
Rattling up six tries against disappointingly one-dimensional opponents, however, was a strictly relative achievement. An injury-hit Azzurri back line displayed little cutting edge and, apart from a burst of scoring just before half-time, England went seriously off the boil for much of the second and third quarters.
They recovered sufficiently for Balshaw, Cueto and Andy Hazell to register tries in the concluding 20 minutes but by then the scrums were uncontested and some of the same old design flaws were still evident.
Balshaw's display, in the meantime, has also underlined the value of a fullback hitting the line at pace in contrast to Jason Robinson's unique own-brand style of individualism, although the former will not want to view too many replays of the late opportunity he allowed to slip through his fingers and legs.
Charlie Hodgson, likewise, will want to focus more on the superb pass that preceded Cueto's third try than on another mixed goalkicking haul, which saw him miss four efforts out of seven. On another day Steve Thompson's decision to ignore a huge overlap in preference for a glory-seeking lunge of his own would also have been punished; as this season has proved, international results can hinge on such fine margins.
Harry Ellis at scrumhalf did not have the greatest day, but dropping him would go against Robinson's desire to retain a settled side. "With continuity of selection you get continuity of performance," cautioned the attack coach Joe Lydon.
Balshaw will hope that applies to him. "He's a different type of fullback," confirmed Robinson, hinting the former Bath player was also an easier man to coach these days. "Having a young baby has made him pretty relaxed and I've been really pleased with his whole attitude.
"The pleasing thing today is that we did create some great opportunities. You're not going to have the perfect game but we didn't allow Italy to score in a period when they had three or four chances. We didn't do that in the previous three games."
Without the injured Bergamasco brothers, the visitors had little to complement their forward muscle although Alessandro Troncon did score a deserved try four minutes after half-time.
ENGLAND: Balshaw; Cueto, Noon, Barkley, Lewsey; Hodgson, Ellis; Rowntree, Thompson, Stevens, Grewcock, Kay, Worsley, Moody, Corry (capt). Replacements: Dawson for Ellis (50 mins), Titterell for Thompson, Smith for Noon (both 64 mins), Borthwick for Grewcock (65 mins), Good for Hodgson, Bell for Rowntree, Hazell for Worsley (all 73 mins).
ITALY: Peens; Pedrazzi, A Masi, Barbini, Nitoglia; Orquera, Troncon; Lo Cicero, Ongaro, Perugini, Del Fava, Bortolami (capt), Persico, Dal Maso, Parisse. Replacements: Pozzebon for Barbini (half-time), Intoppa for Ongaro (inj, 21 mins), Castrogiovanni for Intoppa (inj, 57 mins), Savi for Perugini (54 mins), Dellape for Del Fava (54 mins), Orlando for Dal Maso (half-time)
Referee: M Lawrence (S Africa).
Wilkinson injured
Jonny Wilkinson's injury nightmare last night returned to haunt him and raise fresh doubts about his immediate international prospects for the Lions.
Wilkinson was carried from the field just 34 minutes into his comeback match for Newcastle against Premiership opponents Harlequins at The Stoop.
England's World Cup hero will undergo a scan and is due to see a specialist in Newcastle today, after which a clearer picture will emerge about whether he will play again this season.
