Following an impressive 46-15 win for England over Italy in the Six Nations, here are five takeaways from the game at the Stadio Olimpico.
Chief destroyer: Exeter followers will have been purring watching the closing stages at the Stadio Olimpico as Sam Simmonds finished with two tries – celebrated with Chiefs props Alec Hepburn and Harry Williams – before the number eight set up replacement Jack Nowell for the final try of the contest. It's good to see plenty of Exeter players now involved in the international squad, fully deserved we might add.
No rust for England: Last year's opener saw the English labour past France at Twickenham but that was not the case on Sunday. They played with a real vigour from the outset and raced into a healthy lead thanks to slick handling that led to Anthony Watson showing his finishing ability. Forwards fixing defenders, decoy lines being run and lethal speed and handling had Italy in bother early on. A confident showing.
England need a new nine: The worrying sight of Ben Youngs being taken from the field with a knee injury opens the door to a new scrum-half being called into the England squad. The debate will be whether Dan Robson or Richard Wigglesworth gets the nod while Ben Vellacott could also be an option for Eddie Jones going into facing Wales at Twickenham. That trio will be eyeing their phones in the coming hours.
Italy their own worst enemy: The hosts gave away penalties that did not need to be made. While they only conceded three more than England, many of Italy's were unnecessary as side entries, lifting legs at mauls, penalties soon after restarts, hands in scrum and taking out the jumper at a lineout were all listed in their indiscretions. Wipe those out and who knows how different this result could have been in Rome.
England scrum on song: That's about as dominant a scrum performance as it gets from England as their pack had their chests out on Sunday. From one to eight they put in a shift which laid the platform for the likes of Danny Care, George Ford and Owen Farrell to unleash their backline. That ensuing front-row battle with Rob Evans, Ken Owens and Samson Lee is already looking like being one to watch next weekend.
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