England overpowers Italy in Six Nations to keep alive title chances ahead of final round

England’s Marcus Smith dives over the line to score a try

England 47, Italy 24

England kept alive its Six Nations rugby title hopes by running in seven tries in a bonus-point 47-24 win over Italy at Twickenham yesterday [Macau time] that extended its perfect all-time test record against the Azzurri.

Going into the tournament’s final round on Saturday, England is in second place and a point behind France ahead of their matches against Wales away and Scotland at home, respectively.

France will be guaranteed the title with a bonus-point victory over the Scots in Paris.

England at least has a chance, though, after securing a third straight win in this year’s Six Nations — and this time by a landslide after one-point nailbiters against France and Scotland.

With the score at 14-14 just after the half-hour mark, a 32nd straight victory over the Italians wasn’t guaranteed but England was ruthless in the second half, which hooker Jamie George said was “probably the blueprint of how we want to play.”

“It wasn’t perfect, by any means, but our intent to move the ball and get bums off seats is what we were trying to do,” said George, who made his 100th appearance for England.

Left winger Ollie Sleightholme finished with two tries — one in each half — while Tom Willis, Tommy Freeman, replacement Marcus Smith, Tom Curry and Ben Earl also went over for England. Flyhalf Fin Smith nailed six of his conversions.

A negative for the home team was the sight of center Ollie Lawrence coming off in the eighth minute with an apparent knee injury. Later in the game, Lawrence emerged wearing a protective boot to sit on the bench.

England’s only loss so far has been the 27-22 defeat at Ireland in Round 1, so the outlook is positive for coach Steve Borthwick and his players after consecutive losses to New Zealand, Australia and South Africa in the autumn put the team under pressure.

“We tried to attack from anywhere,” England replacement Luke Cowan-Dickie said. “We knew it was going to be risky but we want to show the fans that we don’t want to kick as much and play with the ball.”

All England can do now is beat Wales — a rival on a record 16-game losing run — and hope for a favor from Scotland.

Italy had three tries, the best coming from Ross Vintcent when the No. 8 galloped clear after running onto an inside pass from livewire fullback Ange Capuozzo. That converted score brought the teams level at 14-14 after 32 minutes.

Capuozzo and Tommaso Menoncello grabbed the other tries for the Azzurri, who couldn’t manage a fourth try for a losing bonus point. They stayed in fifth place on four points, one more than Wales in the battle to avoid the wooden spoon.

“We had some brilliant moments,” Italy captain Michele Lamaro said, “but we switched off in periods.”

Italy closes with a home match against third-place Ireland, which is two points behind France and one behind England. Italy vs. Ireland kicks off “Super Saturday” before Wales vs. England and then France, minus injured star player Antoine Dupont, takes on Scotland. MDT/AP