Six Nations: Stuart Lancaster proud of England after Italy win

England head coach Stuart Lancaster says he is proud of his players after beating Italy 52-11, even enough it was not enough to win the Six Nations.

Mike Brown claimed a brace of tries, while Owen Farrell, Jack Nowell, Mako Vunipola, Manu Tuilagi and Chris Robshaw also crossed.

But Ireland won the title when they beat France 22-20 later on Saturday.

"We came here and scored 50; not many teams do that. I am proud of the boys," said Lancaster.

"Credit to Ireland, they are deserved winners and it's a fitting finale for Brian O'Driscoll, a legend of the game we all respect.

England needed to win by 51 clear points to overhaul Ireland's superior points difference and put themselves in a good position to win the Six Nations for the first time since 2011.

They had looked likely to do that until a late Leonardo Sarto interception try for Italy.

Despite failing to win the title, Lancaster believes his players can take away many positives from their performances throughout the tournament.

"We always knew this was going to be one of the tightest Six Nations and go down to the wire," he said.

"We have a great squad we've got developing and the bigger picture is important.

"The match against France was frustrating, but then look at the performance against Scotland, the Ireland performance, the Wales performance, and I don't think anyone has come here and scored as many as we have.

"So you've got to be proud of the boys, really."

England captain Chris Robshaw added: "The response after France has been outstanding.

"We always knew it was going to be tough. The last two encounters we've had against Italy there was no more than a score in it.

"We were focused and ready. We came here to score 50 points and that's what we did, but unfortunately we conceded."