Satisfied Jones says England could have won even bigger in Italy

Wednesday, 16 February 2022 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

ROME (Reuters): England were only minor improvements away from racking up an even bigger margin of victory than their 33-0 Six Nations win over Italy in Rome on Sunday, head coach Eddie Jones said.

A revamped English side featuring six new faces ran in five tries at the Stadio Olimpico to breathe new life into their campaign after suffering a narrow defeat to Scotland in their opening game last week. It was a good performance. We started the game well, got a bit of a flow. We started the second half well and defended well at the end, Jones said.

“They're a tough team and they keep coming. If we were a little bit tidier in some of our work, in our running and support lines, and at the breakdown, it could have been a big score. But were happy with that and we move on to Wales.

Italy have played against New Zealand and France and been in the game in the first half. They weren’t in the game today.

England are back in the mix for the title, having climbed to second place in the Six Nations table, three points behind leaders France and ahead of Ireland on points difference. They host Wales next on Feb. 26. It’s the nature of the tournament, one minute it’s not looking so good and the next it is,” said captain Tom Curry.

“The main thing is we focus week on week. The fallow week is a good time to focus on ourselves. We will take every week as it comes, and what happens, happens.”