5 Truths from Twickenham: England stutter as Italy dish up a surprise

England’s disjointed and imprecise first-half showing will have removed much of the fear factor ahead of the two tournament-deciding Tests to come. It was as bad a display as has been seen since Eddie Jones took over and (were it not for the second-half reaction) could have been enough to put a major dent in the claims of some of the starting XV to remain first-choice. Italy performed impressively, but a string of errors from England – most noticeably a number of wayward kicks from hand – backed up the impression that Scotland will come to town with plenty of reason for optimism in a fortnight’s time.

Italy’s opening two matches of the tournament were way off the standard that Conor O’Shea would have hoped for and expected. But 40 minutes at Twickenham was enough to prove why the Italians are fully deserving of their spot in the Six Nations. Whether or not there should be relegation from the tournament is a debate for another day, but every year the Italy team produces at least one performance that shows why they are such an interesting addition to the top tier of northern-hemisphere rugby. Whether their tactics of not competing at all at the breakdown is the way rugby is supposed to be played was the talk of the press conferences after the game, but the reality was that it unsettled England and added a new talking point to a tournament that is never lacking in subtext.

Within three minutes of the second half the ‘real England’ snuck into view (at least, if you’re an England fan you have to hope that it was the real England). The contrast in intensity was striking, with Danny Care’s quick tap-and-go the spark the team needed to fire them into action. It’s not hard to imagine the half-time team talk that inspired such a reaction, but it was a required one – a statement from England that they are still a team with the weapons to secure back-to-back Grand Slams when they get it together.

The tries flowed late on, but the 21-point score difference could yet prove to be a fatal blow to England’s chances of winning the Championship. Lose to one of Scotland or Ireland in the remaining matches and England will have ceded the points-difference advantage to their title rivals in a big way. Such was the perilous nature of the score-line at half-time, simply winning the game superseded any thoughts of matching Ireland’s rout of the Azzurri, but Eddie Jones will be furious at his team’s lack of ruthlessness against a calibre of opponent they really should be putting to the sword if they have aspirations of being considered the best team in the world in future.

Twickenham can feel cavernous and slightly impersonal at times, but the powers that be at England HQ deserve a great deal of credit for the enjoyable fan experience they create outside the ground. The fan park fills up many hours before kick-off and, as always with Six Nations games, it’s the interaction between the fans that creates that extra-special buzz.

Eurosport joined in the fun on Sunday, although Dan Quarrell looked slightly nervier about the outcome of the match by half-time than he did beforehand when he was joined by Mattia Fontana.