England scored four tries in the second half to cruise to a 40-9 victory over Italy at the Stadio Olimpico this afternoon.
Just two points separated the teams until the final 30 minutes of the contest, when a Jonathan Joseph hat-trick helped Eddie Jones make it two wins from two in the 2016 Six Nations.
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The visitors made a scrappy start to the match against a fired-up Italian outfit, and soon found themselves behind when Carlo Canna slotted a penalty through the posts in the ninth minute.
England soon responded with their first points of the contest, though, as Owen Farrell levelled things up with a kick of his own before George Ford nudged the Red Rose in front while Farrell was off the field receiving treatment.
Italy were proving every bit a match for Jones's side, however, and Canna restored parity once again in what was turning out to be a battle of the boot in the first half.
The hosts had a chance to regain the lead shortly afterwards too, but this time the penalty was out of range for Canna and Gonzalo Garcia could only fire his kick wide of the right upright.
The opening try of the contest arrived in the 25th minute when Luke McLean spilled the ball in a dangerous position, allowing England to work it through the hands of Mako Vunipola and Farrell before Ford went over in the corner.
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Farrell missed the resulting conversion, and that allowed Italy to reduce the deficit back to two points before half time when Canna knocked over his third penalty of the contest.
England were fortunate not to see James Haskell sin-binned for tackling his man in the air early in the second half, and they were also beginning to be let off by Italy when Canna failed to punish more ill-discipline by missing a penalty.
What had been a close contest for the opening 50 minutes eventually got away from Italy in the final half-hour, and it was a mistake that began the free-scoring spell for England when Joseph intercepted Leonardo Sarto's pass for an easy finish.
Joseph had his second shortly afterwards, and this time it was one of England's making as the forwards rumbled up the field before Danny Care sent a clever kick through for the Bath centre to touch down.
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The scoreline began to look disproportionately one-sided, and things only got worse for Italy when Joseph completed a 20-minute hat-trick by powering over with a little under 10 minutes remaining.
A fifth try followed to complete the rout for England late on, with Ford and Jamie George combining to send Farrell through.
The try-scorer converted it himself to extend the lead to 31 points, and that was how it stayed as England returned to the top of the Six Nations table.
Barney Corkhill
