Summary

  • England beat Italy 57-14 to maintain Six Nations title hopes

  • England score eight tries to keep pressure on leaders Wales

  • Kruis, Tuilagi, Shields & Robson all go over in second half

  • George, May, Tuilagi & Shields tries in first half

  • Allan and Morisi tries for Italy

  1. Bye for nowpublished at 19:17 Greenwich Mean Time 9 March 2019

    Right, time to head to the hills.

    You can read Tom Fordyce's match report from Twickenham right here.

    You can read how Wales kept their Grand Slam party train trundling towards Cardiff over here in Tom English's dispatch from Murrayfield.

    And Brent Pilnick was in Exeter to see England's Women rout Italy.

    Next weekend is looking peachy for Wales who will claim the title with victory over Ireland at the Principality Stadium next week.

    If they slip up, both England or Ireland could be in.

  2. 'No need for fox-hunting'published at 19:04 Greenwich Mean Time 9 March 2019

    FT: England 57-14 Italy

    England coach Eddie Jones speaking to ITV Sport: "Next week will be like a grand final, it’ll be exciting. We cannot control what happens in the other game, but we can control what happens against Scotland. We’ll have a couple of days off, but then get into it on Monday.

    "There were no foxes out there, there was no need for fox hunting today, so we could just play some rugby."

  3. 'A bit of disappointment with certain aspects'published at 19:02 Greenwich Mean Time 9 March 2019

    FT: England 57-14 Italy

    England coach Eddie Jones speaking to ITV Sport: "Yes, it was a good response after Wales. We left a bit out there, there’s a bit disappointment with certain aspects but we are looking forward to Scotland.

    "We used the whole 23 today, we could have used the finishers better against Wales, and that was my fault, but they all made a contribution today

    "Benny Teo and Manu Tuilagi are good players, and Joe Cokanasiga is only going to improve. We are so blessed to have Brad Shields and Mark Wilson who can play six, there is great competition for places for next week."

  4. get involved

    Get Involvedpublished at 18:57 Greenwich Mean Time 9 March 2019

    #bbcrugby

    Gary: I think it's about time the six nations progressed, are we really really meant to believe the 2nd tier of European rugby nations can't offer more than Italy!!??? I'm sure Georgia would ask some serious rugby questions if they were given the chance.

  5. 'We don't have to worry about the title race'published at 18:57 Greenwich Mean Time 9 March 2019

    FT: England 57-14 Italy

    Eddie Jones talking to Sara OrchardImage source, BBC Sport

    England coach Eddie Jones speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live's Sara Orchard about Joe Cokanasiga:

    "It’s not so much his size, it’s what he does with his size.

    "We don’t have to worry about the title race, that’s for the media to talk about. Scotland have had a poor Six Nations so we’ll have to be at our best."

  6. 'An incredibly powerful England performance'published at 18:49 Greenwich Mean Time 9 March 2019

    FT: England 57-14 Italy

    Sara Orchard speaks to Conor O'SheaImage source, BBC Sport

    Italy head coach Conor O'Shea on BBC Radio 5 Live:

    "It was difficult. That was an incredibly powerful England performance.

    "We tried to play and we created a lot when we had the opportunity, but there was too much power out there.

    "I'm immensely proud of all of these boys because they never stopped trying.

    "We'll reset easily before France. We'll see what we've got in terms of players upright.

    "What you saw out there was a lot of people who played until the end. I wouldn't get too carried away with the scoreline against us. It was straight one-on-one tackles that cost us dearly but there were some individuals who put in an incredible shift for us."

  7. Big gainspublished at 18:46 Greenwich Mean Time 9 March 2019

    FT: England 57-14 Italy

    Joe Cokanasiga's stats make some impressive reading.

    He made 108 metres, five clean breaks and two offloads - all team-high totals.

  8. get involved

    Get Involvedpublished at 18:43 Greenwich Mean Time 9 March 2019

    #bbcrugby

    Matthew Harris: Can we stop framing the relegation debate in terms of Italy? Other teams have got the Spoon since they arrived. Even France. It's meant to be about the competition and promoting rugby in Europe, not your contempt for the little guys

  9. 'I wanted to get my hands on the ball'published at 18:43 Greenwich Mean Time 9 March 2019

    FT: England 57-14 Italy

    Joe CokanasigaImage source, Getty Images

    Joe Cokanasiga speaking to ITV Sport: "I wanted to get my hands on the ball as soon as I could, and that’s what happened.

    "We are trying to bring more to the game than size or power – a bit of flair as well.

    "After Wales we wanted to react to that, come together as a squad, and that’s what we did.

    "I just wanted to take this opportunity with both hands. This gives us good confidence, a chance to build and that’s what we want to do."

  10. 'Genge pushes himself forward'published at 18:39 Greenwich Mean Time 9 March 2019

    FT: England 57-14 Italy

    Paul Grayson
    Former England fly-half on BBC Radio 5 Live

    Ellis Genge was really good. He was disciplined and he carried the ball when it was his opportunity.

    His work-rate and positioning were really good so he's pushed himself forward.

    On the other side, Brad Shields has still got some work to do. He'll be desperate for a big international performance at some point.

  11. Men of the matchpublished at 18:39 Greenwich Mean Time 9 March 2019

    England 57-14 Italy

    There is a nice little cameo at the end of the match as Joe Cokanasiga attempts to put his man-of-the-match medal around the neck of Manu Tuilagi.

    The pair of them were excellent.

  12. get involved

    Get Involvedpublished at 18:37 Greenwich Mean Time 9 March 2019

    Small Man Peaky: Don't think England will learn much from this game. Almost all of their tries came from either weak Italian defence, or Italian mistakes in clearing their lines. About as unsatisfactory as a 57-14 win can be

  13. get involved

    Get Involvedpublished at 18:35 Greenwich Mean Time 9 March 2019

    #bbcrugby or text to 81111

    Owain Evans: Can we please end the farce and rid the 6 nations of Italy? They don't offer anything anymore - its beem a casual stroll for England

    All this talk about relegation; it's worth remembering that some rugby playing nations are advantaged by rich clubs that take talent from all over the world who quickly qualify for the national team. Even things up by restricting to country of birth? Taking cover now

    Miri

  14. 'A very ordinary opposition'published at 18:33 Greenwich Mean Time 9 March 2019

    FT: England 57-14 Italy

    Paul Grayson
    Former England fly-half on BBC Radio 5 Live

    The vast majority of the stadium will be happy to see England win and not necessarily share the frustrations about Italy.

    There's been some excellent rugby from England, albeit against a very ordinary opposition.

  15. Full-timepublished at 18:33 Greenwich Mean Time 9 March 2019

    England 57-14 Italy

    All done. England's chariot rolls towards the final day with a chance of taking the chequered flag.

    England ReutersImage source, Getty Images
  16. Postpublished at 18:31 Greenwich Mean Time 9 March 2019

    England 57-14 Italy

    Matt Dawson
    Former England scrum-half on BBC Radio 5 live

    Please don't think that George Kruis' charge-downs are by accident. He will practise that time after time after time and it's paid dividends today.

  17. get involved

    Get Involvedpublished at 18:31 Greenwich Mean Time 9 March 2019

    #bbcrugby or text 81111

    Mark Davies: To the Italian National team. For those of us who want to see you remain in the Six Nations and not replaced by Georgia … you are not doing yourself any favours

  18. 'Naive from Italy'published at 18:31 Greenwich Mean Time 9 March 2019

    England 57-14 Italy

    Brian Moore
    Former England hooker

    The problem for Italy was that if the scrum half had stayed in the guard positions, he wouldn’t have been exposed. A bit of naivety there from Tebaldi.

    Italy teamImage source, Getty Images
  19. try

    Try - England 57-14 Italypublished at 77 mins

    Shields (con Ford)

    Tito Tebaldi slow-motion box-kick action gets him in trouble again.

    The Italy scrum-half goes not have a lot of protection from his forwards though as he is charged down by George Kruis,

    This time the scraps off the table fall for Brad Shields for his second try. George Ford kicks the extras.

  20. 'Big defence'published at 18:27 Greenwich Mean Time 9 March 2019

    England 50-14 Italy

    Matt Dawson
    Former England scrum-half on BBC Radio 5 live

    There haven't been many occasions like that today where England have tried to go for the jackal and get the turnover. They would have made life easier for themselves if they'd done that sooner.