England thump Italy to put pressure on Ireland


(MENAFN- Kora) The Triple Crown winners came into the game tied on six points with both Ireland and France, knowing that a heavy victory would give them a chance of claiming Six Nations glory regardless of the result in Paris



As it materialised, England could not overhaul the points difference on Ireland and are now hoping France win by anything less than 70 points if they are to claim the title



Stuart Lancaster's men ran in seven tries, including two for Mike Brown and one for Manu Tuilagi on his return to the international fold after a six-month absence with a pectoral injury



Tuilagi's try made it 45-6 with 13 minutes remaining, and at that point it looked as though England would run riot in the final stages to accrue the points needed to overtake Ireland, but Leonardo Sarto's interception try a minute later effectively ended those hopes



Italy began brightly, dominating early possession and were rewarded in the seventh minute when the English scrum was penalised and Luciano Orquera slotted the penalty



England replied with a penalty of their own before Brown put them ahead shortly afterwards, taking a pass from Luther Burrell and holding off the challenge of Michele Campagnaro on his charge to the left corner



Owen Farrell made the conversion and then showed his defensive qualities by making a desperate cover tackle to deny Sarto five yards from the line after the wing had picked up a knock-on from Jack Nowell



Orquera kicked his second penalty to reduce the deficit in the 22nd minute, but England came again and took a commanding lead through Farrell's try



With the visitors searching for a thumping victory to put pressure on Ireland ahead of their game with France, England opted to kick for touch rather than for the posts when deep inside the 22, and that decision paid off as Danny Care fed Farrell who crashed through a gap and touched down for his second try for his country



Farrell then turned creator in the 38th minute, offloading in the tackle to Brown, who raced over untouched from 40 yards to give England a 24-6 advantage at half-time



England dominated the early stages of the second half and the Italians went down to 14 men when Marco Bortolami was sin binned for playing the ball in an offside position five yards from his own line in the 51st minute



The visitors took advantage immediately, working the ball left to Nowell, who had the simplest of tasks to run in his first international try



As Bortolami's sin bin was coming to an end England crossed the whitewash for a fifth time, Billy Twelvetrees offloading to Mako Vunipola, who went over unopposed from close range



England were utterly dominant and Tuilagi, brought on as a replacement for Burrell, marked his return to the side by crashing through for another simple finish



The visitors' momentum was briefly halted when Sarto intercepted Joe Launchbury's pass and touched down in the corner to reduce England's lead to 34 points



The final say belonged to captain Chris Robshaw, who touched down for his side's seventh try, but England's fate now rests in the hands of the French


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