England run Italians ragged

Austin Healey's momentum carries him over for the try

England 80-23 Italy

A dominant second half performance gave England a resounding victory at Twickenham against Italy.

England registered 10 tries - seven in the second half and two from man-of-the-match Austin Healey - and continued their quest for total domination of the Six Nations.

But Clive Woodward's side were given a first-half warning as the visitors pushed his side all the way in the first 40 minutes.

The capacity home crowd were immediately stunned into silence when Denis Dallan scored his first international try after just five minutes.

The England forwards were caught off-side close to their line, but the Italians declared their attacking intent when they opted to kick to touch from the resulting penalty.

And their decision paid dividends when Dallan's surging right-wing run exposed England's frailties on the narrow side, skipping past Phil Vickery and Ben Cohen for the try.

Andrea Scanavacca added the conversion from a tight angle to give the visitors a shock 7-0 lead.

The early suckerpunch caught England cold, but three points from the boot of Jonny Wilkinson and a try from Austin Healy soon established England's position in the game.

Excellent work from Lawrence Dallaglio created the overlap for Austin Healey to run unopposed under the posts, successfully converted by Wilkinson.

Denis Dallan celebrates his first international try

Italy were soon on level terms when Scanavacca kicked three points after referee Stuart Dickinson spotted a block by an England forward.

But England soon regained the lead when Healey scored his second try of the game - with the assistance of the video referee.

The Australian referee was unsure whether the Leicester winger had grounded the ball after Luca Martin looked to have stopped him on the line.

But the video referee confirmed the winger's momentum carried him over for the score, converted by the mechanically consistent Wilkinson.

But again, in the topsy-turvy first half, the Italians soon levelled the scores once again, this time through Carlo Checchinato on 24 minutes.

A high up-and-under from Cristian Stoica forced a handling error from Iain Balshaw, who failed to gather the kick.

Frenetic pace

His mistake was soon capitalised upon by Andrea Muraro, who recycled the ball for the big number eight to score his 15th international try.

Scanavacca, in the kicking form of his life, added the conversion and another three points with a magnificently struck long penalty to regain the lead.

But Balshaw soon made amends for his earlier error when he ran in unopposed for England's third try.

A piercing long pass from Healey dissected the Italian defence and the full-back ran in under the posts, easily converted by Wilkinson to take the score to 27-20 after 34 minutes.

Wilkinson and Scanavacca exchanged further penalties to bring an end to a fiercely-competitive first half, with England leading 33-23.

The frenetic pace continued immediately into the second half when Ben Cohen scored his eighth international try for his country.

Iain Balshaw goes over for yet another England try

A powerful drive from the England forwards gave Wilkinson the time to deliver an inch-perfect pass for Cohen to charge through to score under the posts.

And as the Italians began to tire, England exploited their enormous depth on-the-bench.

The Twickenham crowd were treated to their first glimpse of Sale winger and former England rugby league international Jason Robinson, on a substitute for Ben Cohen after 50 minutes.

But it was fellow substitute Mark Regan, on for hooker Dorien West, who made an immediate impact.

He rounded-off an excellent England move in the right-hand corner for a 47-23 lead after Wilkinson converted.

And another substitute, Joe Worsley, made his impression when his try broke the 50-point barrier for England.

The crowd were then treated to some slick England play as Will Greenwood, Balshaw, Wilkinson and Dallaglio went over for further tries in the last 10 minutes.

Wilkinson's only blemish was missing one conversion, right at the end of the game, but still managed to score a record 35 points.

He now trails Rob Andrew by 20 points as England's record point scorer.

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England: Balshaw, Healey, Greenwood, Catt, Cohen, Wilkinson, Dawson, Leonard, West, Vickery, Johnson, Grewcock, Hill, Back, Dallaglio.
Replacements: Regan, Woodman, Worsley, Corry, Bracken, Tindall, Robinson.

Italy: Scanavacca, Martin, Stoica, Pozzebon, D. Dallan, Raineri, Queirolo, Lo Cicero, Moscardi, Muraro, Gritti, Visser, Caione, Bergamasco, Checchinato.
Replacements: de Carli, Paoletti, Dal Maso, De Rossi, Mazzantini, Pez, Rivaro.

Referee: Stuart Dickinson (Australia)