England cruise comes at a cost
ENGLAND’S quest for an unprecedented hat-trick of Six Nations titles was launched by a 46-15 victory over Italy that produced a late flurry of tries.
The champions exploded out of the blocks by crossing twice through Anthony Watson inside the opening 10 minutes, but the overwhelming win their early onslaught appeared to signpost only materialised in the closing stages.
In the end, Italy’s line was breached seven times in the bonus-point visit to the Stadio Olimpico, but England were made to work by a team that had nine starters with 10 caps or fewer.
Eddie Jones had urged his players to set the tone for their campaign by putting the Azzurri to the sword and they responded, but there will be plenty to pick apart, not least the way they were exposed out wide when leaking two tries.
The victory came at a cost, too, as Ben Youngs was forced off in the ninth minute with what appeared to be a serious knee injury inflicted when the joint buckled awkwardly during a tackle, leaving him a major doubt for Saturday’s clash with Wales at Twickenham.
The Leicester captain screamed in pain and was driven from the pitch on the medical cart, enabling Danny Care to make his 77th Test appearance and equal Matt Dawson’s record as England’s most capped scrum-half.
Youngs’ distress points to a significant lay-off and, having relied on just two players in the position for virtually his entire reign, Jones will finally have to summon a third option.
“Ben will have an examination tomorrow [Monday] so we’ll know more after that,” said Jones. “He’s unlikely to be available for the Wales game.”