England, dogged and none too disciplined, were grateful to escape Italy's stranglehold with a dodgy looking victory in Saturday's combative World Cup qualifier at the McAlpine Stadium.

Tries at the end of each half by Dan Luger and Will Greenwood just about saved England's blushes after the Italians had battled their hosts to a virtual stalemate, getting within a point of parity in a nail-biting finale.

The England coach Clive Woodward had the tactical sense to throw three fresh forwards, Tim Rodber, Richard Hill and Graham Rowntree, into the cauldron with a good half hour remaining, which steadied the ship. The French referee Didier Mene also played a crucial role, denying the Italians a seemingly valid try when their scrum-half Alessandro Troncon touched down from short range minutes after the break.

Any lingering doubts about Italy's status were comprehensively swept away by a performance that often upstaged England in terms of continuity and technique. The visitors displayed immense commitment throughout, hitting the rucks and mauls with controlled fury. Massimo Giovanelli, their captain, set a high standard with his unrelenting work rate while the open-side flanker Mauro Bergamasco showed a pace and aggression that gave England's defence a searching examination.

A mass punch-up broke out after 17 minutes, but there was an element of niggle from the outset that the French officials were unable to control. Italy's abrasive hooker Alessandro Moscardi was yellow-carded, though any one of half a dozen players, in white shirts as well as blue, might have received a caution.

Notwithstanding Italy's determination to tackle hard and often, they made a rod for their own backs by getting offside and allowing Paul Grayson more shots at goal than were healthy. The England kicker eased his side into a 60 lead after a dropped scrum and a high tackle on Greenwood presented him with short-range penalties in the opening 10 minutes. Diego Dominguez proved similarly reliable, also steering home a couple of first-half penalties.

On the stroke of half-time England capitalised on a spell of fierce pressure, Ben Clarke driving to the left of the posts and when the ball came back from the ruck Matt Dawson and Grayson combined sweetly to send Luger over for his second international try.

At 16-6, any hopes they entertained of building up a comfortable cushion of points evaporated in the third quarter when Italy made it abundantly clear they were not about to roll over. Dominguez kicked a third penalty for a ruck offence and on the hour the Italian playmaker dropped a marvellous goal.

But after Dominguez raised the prospect of a major upset with a short-range drop goal, England at last shrugged off their shortcomings. Greenwood tried one of his trademark ploys, the short chip and charge from just inside the 22, his markers were caught flat-footed and the Leicester centre plundered an opportunist try close to the posts.

Afterwards England coach Clive Woodward called for the introduction of white cards to sin-bin players in next year's World Cup after the Italians were penalised 25 times.

"This was a World Cup qualifier but we have already qualified," said Woodward.

"If it had been a serious World Cup match next year some of the guys might have taken the law into their own hands and unless you can sort out penalties you're going to get disappointing games like this.

"I have no excuses. The team - the backs and the forwards - played badly and we were lucky to get away with a win."

Scorers: England - Luger, Greenwood, (tries). Conversions: Grayson 2. Penalties: Grayson 3. Italy: Penalties: Dominguez 4. Drop goal: Dominguez.

England: Perry; Luger, Guscott, Greenwood, Healey; Grayson, Dawson; Leonard, Cockerill, Garforth, Johnson, Archer, Clarke, Corry, Back. Replacements: Catt, Beal, Rowntree, Greening, Rodber, Hill, Grewcock.

Italy: Pini; Roselli, Stoica, Dallan, Martin; Dominguez, Troncon; Cuttitta, Moscardi, De Carli, Checchinato, Cristofoletto, Giovanelli, Bergamasco, Calone. Replacements: Saviozzi, Lanzi, Castellani, Arancio, Mazzariol, Raineri, Mazzi.

Referee: D Mene (France)