Italy 9 England 45

England enjoyed an ultimately fruitful but unsatisfying day in the Roman sun to bring the 2002 Lloyds TSB Six Nations Championship to an end, scoring six tries in a 45-9 win over Italy at the Stadio Flaminio.

Harlequins centre Will Greenwood scored one in each half for England, with Ben Cohen, Jason Robinson, Austin Healey and Lawrence Dallaglio also touching down on an afternoon which produced a muted sense of occasion, with Championship ambitions already destroyed by France in Paris 24 hours earlier.

England stuttered as they aimed to find their step, an early surge petering out early in the second half, as they let a largely one-dimensional and indisciplined Italian side back into the game.

Solace can be taken from the fact that the English only allowed the Azzurri to score two penalties during a match which saw the unfamiliar sight of regular captain Martin Johnson on the bench.

What England will have learned from the game could likely be written on the back of a postage stamp, their power and organisation too much for an Italian team devoid of imagination and execution, although the try-scoring return of Lawrence Dallaglio from the bench served as a long-awaited tonic for a match which had an air of inevitability around it before a ball had even been kicked.

The first half got under way with Jonny Wilkinson and Diego Dominguez exchanging penalty kicks, but with England seemingly intent on using their undoubted firepower in the backs, it was only eight minutes in before the first try was scored.

It came from some appalling Italian defensive play, Will Greenwood running through the huge gap created by Denis Dallan's poor positional judgement after good work from Mike Tindall, Wilkinson converting from under the posts after Greenwood's saunter to the line.  Lewis Moody then went close from an Italian lineout in the corner, just knocking on as he dived for the whitewash from the back of the lineout.

A large cheer from the hordes of England fans came on 19 minutes when a nasal injury to Danny Grewcock meant a three-minute bloodbin cameo for Martin Johnson, the captain who had been left out of the starting XV going into the game.

Johnson's initial contribution consisted of giving away a penalty immediately for going through the middle of a ruck and a free-kick for infringing at the lineout, but normality was soon restored on 24 minutes when Ben Cohen scored England's second try.  The Northampton wing went over after Neil Back drove down the middle of the field, the ball then worked right for Cohen to break the tackles of Dallan and Dominguez on his way to the line for a powerful run-in.  Wilkinson converted that score, and as England continued to dominate a game dogged by penalties and free-kicks, it was fullback Jason Robinson who racked up the final try of the half, after an accomplished performance which saw him frequently at acting scrum-half, as well as slotting the odd tactical kick into the corners.

His try was a typically individual finish, coming from a five-metre scrum under the posts, scrum-half Kyran Bracken working the ball right to Robinson on a diagonal at first receiver, the Sale Sharks speedster bursting through the tackle of Giovanni Raineri, Wilkinson again adding the extras from right of the posts for a 24-3 half-time advantage.  Italy finally showed some willingness to run with the ball out wide as the second half got underway, Dallan and Mazzucato combining down the right to burst holes in an English defence which was forced to concede a penalty on their own 22, Dominguez slotting the easy penalty to get the Roman crowd vocal again.

Another Italian penalty for Dominguez followed as Alessandro Troncon marshalled the forward pack in the England 22, steering them on short bursts at the England fringes, and forcing England to again give away penalties.

England summoned on 252 caps worth of talent from the bench with 24 minutes left on the clock, Lawrence Dallaglio, Martin Johnson, Matt Dawson and Jason Leonard entering the fray to massive applause from the Stadio Flaminio terraces.

Three of those former captains had an instant impact on the game, a break from Johnson down the centre freeing Wilkinson from the 22, the ensuing ruck seeing Dawson spin the ball left to Dallaglio, the returning Wasps No.8 having a completely unopposed run-in to the line from five metres, a deserved grin on his face as he touched the ball down after an injury-blighted last year.

With Wilkinson taking a knock in the tackle Dawson added the conversion from just left of the posts, the Northampton scrum-half also instrumental in the next try nine minutes later.  From a penalty ten metres away from the Italian line, he tapped, paused for a second and then hit a deft lob over the flat Italian backline, Greenwood racing onto the ball at pace for a marvellous rehearsed set-piece score, converted by Wilkinson.

With the clock running down, there was still time for one more England try, replacement Austin Healey scampering over in the right corner in his silver boots after Greenwood drew replacement fullback Ramiro Pez and committed him before passing, Wilkinson converting for a 13-point personal haul.

The final whistle went immediately after, bringing down the curtain on another disappointing Six Nations season for the English, one which promised so much, but failed to deliver after their miserable afternoon in Paris five weeks ago.

For Italy, credibility in part from their second half showing, but with coach Brad Johnstone widely expected to be relieved of his duties, and assistant John Kirwan set to take over, plenty of thinking to do for the Azzurri ahead of next season.

Man of the match:  Jason Robinson
Not too many stand-out candidates from a team performance which at times lacked the killer instinct, but Robinson's solid base at the back and outstanding support play in attack added considerable edge to what could have been a flat tempo.  Jonny Wilkinson controlled the backline well, and both Lewis Moody and Will Greenwood fared well in the loose.  Not too many candidates for the Italians, whose only real spearhead came from Mazzucato's occasional breaks down the wing.

Moment of the match:  England quadruple substitution
16 minutes into the second half, you're 24-9 up in a meaningless game, what do you do?  Bring on 252 caps worth of experience of course.  The fact that England can boast replacements of the calibre of Martin Johnson, Lawrence Dallaglio, Matt Dawson and Jason Leonard, shows how far they have came recently.  The sight of all four running onto the field in clean shirts must have had the Italian pack cursing the rugby Gods.

Villain of the match:  Denis Dallan
No real villains in a relatively well-played-out game, the odd spat marring play, but no cards shown by referee Mark Lawrence.  Italian left wing Dallan gets our vote for some early poor defending, although some of his backline teammates also contributed to the defensive holes which England ran through on occasion.

(Half-time:  Italy 3 England 24)

Sin-bin:  None
Referee:  Mark Lawrence (South Africa)
Touch judges:  Joel Dumé (France) and David McHugh (Ireland)

The teams:

Italy:  1 Giampiero De Carli, 2 Alessandro Moscardi (c), 3 Federico Pucciariello, 4 Marco Bortolami, 5 Mark Giacheri, 6 Mauro Bergamasco, 7 Aaron Persico, 8 Matthew Phillips, 9 Alessandro Troncon, 10 Diego Dominguez, 11 Denis Dallan, 12 Giovanni Raineri, 13 Cristian Stoica, 14 Nicola Mazzucato, 15 Gert Peens
Reserves:  Matteo Mazzantini, Andrea Moretti, Cristian Zanoletti, Andrea De Rossi, Santiago Dellape, Carlos Nieto, Ramiro Pez

England:  1 Graham Rowntree, 2 Steve Thompson, 3 Julian White, 4 Ben Kay, 5 Danny Grewcock, 6 Neil Back (c), 7 Lewis Moody, 8 Richard Hill, 9 Kyran Bracken, 10 Jonny Wilkinson, 11 Dan Luger, 12 Will Greenwood, 13 Mike Tindall, 14 Ben Cohen, 15 Jason Robinson
Reserves:  Lawrence Dallaglio, Matt Dawson, Austin Healey, Martin Johnson, Jason Leonard, Dorian West, Charlie Hodgson

Referee:  Lawrence m.

Points Scorers

Italy
Pen K.:  Dominguez D. 3

England
Tries:  Dallaglio L.B.N. 1, Greenwood W.J.H. 2, Healey A.S. 1, Robinson J.T. 1, Cohen B.C. 1
Conv:  Dawson M.J.S. 1, Wilkinson J.P. 5
Pen K.:  Wilkinson J.P. 1