England move second with bonus-point win over Italy

9 Mar 2025 | 4 min | 1

England move second with bonus-point win over Italy

England moved second in the 2025 Guinness Men's Six Nations Championship thanks to a seven-try victory over Italy at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham.

Itoje and Borthwick reaction

Tries from Tom Willis, Tommy Freeman, Ollie Sleightholme (2), Marcus Smith, Tom Curry and Ben Earl as well as a strong performance from the tee by Fin Smith - who scored six of his seven conversions - saw England overtake Ireland and Scotland in the standings. Italy scored through Ange Capuozzo, Ross Vintcent and Tommaso Menoncello, with Paolo Garbisi converting all three tries and adding a penalty.

Italy won an early penalty in the London sun, but spilled the ball on the England 22 and Elliot Daly countered up to half way. He was brought down, but England recycled and played it wide to Freeman on the wing. Freeman then offloaded back in-field before Willis powered over for his first international try, with Fin Smith converting.

Five minutes later Freeman was played into space by a floating Daly pass, but a strong covering tackle by Menoncello stopped him just short of the line. England won a scrum as Italy were held-up over their own line, but an injury to Ollie Lawrence in the build-up saw Marcus Smith replace the Bath centre and the visitors eventually cleared.

Italy hit back after 13 minutes as a clever kick by Garbisi was followed up by Capuozzo latching onto Monty Ioane’s chipped kick and Garbisi slotted the conversion to draw level.

First set of photos from 1st half v Italy — Tom Willis showed good strength for his first England try.

Shortly after England won a penalty at the ruck and, in their hunt for tries, kicked to the corner but Matt Gallagher stole the ball as Freeman looked to offload.

Garbisi had an opportunity to take the lead with 22 minutes played, but his kick drifted wide and England responded by winning a penalty of their own. They kicked to the corner, but Italy held Maro Itoje up over the line. As the Italians cleared, England countered with an outside-the-boot kick from Daly that Freeman regathered, before he stepped inside for his fourth try of the tournament. Fin Smith converted to give England a seven point lead.

Italy replied almost immediately as Capuozzo burst through the midfield and found Vintcent on his shoulder. Vintcent then dummied and used his pace to cross for Italy’s second try, with Garbisi converting to draw the Azzurri level.

With 35 minutes played, an Alex Mitchell box-kick was tapped into the arms of Ollie Chessum and after a few phases England won a penalty at the breakdown. Mitchell tapped quickly to inject a bit of pace, before a succession of crisp passes saw Sleightholme score in the corner and Fin Smith converted from wide.

As half-time approached, Garbisi cut the deficit with a penalty to make it 21-17 and despite threatening to score again, England defended the Italian maul to end the half in front.

Photos from first half of England v Italy — Tommy Freeman has scored in every game of the 2025 Six Nations so far.

England started the second half in style, as Will Stuart showed great skill to step and carry into the Italian half. England recycled and a brilliant offload by Tom Curry found the onrushing Marcus Smith to score the bonus-point try, with Fin Smith converting.

Just a couple of minutes later England showed their dominance as they set up a driving maul in the Italian 22. After a handful of phases, Tom Curry spotted space around the ruck to cross, as Fin Smith converted again for a 35-17 lead with 48 minutes played.

With 50 minutes on the clock, England showed phenomenal handling in the build up to their sixth try. Itoje won a turnover and galloped into the Italian 22 before offloading to replacement Ben Curry who found Mitchell. The scrum half passed to Jamie George, making his 100th England appearance, who offloaded to Sleightholme to finish in the corner for his second of the game. Fin Smith then continued his impressive showing from the tee by adding the extras.

Photos from second half Eng v Ita — Marcus Smith celebrates his bonus point-securing try.

A forward pass by the Azzurri as they threatened the England line gave replacement Jack van Poortvliet a platform to clear from. Capuozzo returned the kick but was brought down and Ben Curry won a penalty at the breakdown. Fraser Dingwall followed up with a well-placed kick into the 22, but England were penalised at the lineout.

With ten minutes remaining, Italy scored their first points of the half when Menoncello finished following a Manuel Zuliani break and Garbisi converted to make it 42-24 to England.

As the clock ticked into the red, Ben Curry stole the ball brilliantly before putting Earl over in the corner, but Fin Smith's conversion flew just wide of the post to see England win 47-24.

Steve Borthwick's side will now head to Cardiff on Saturday 15 March for their final game of the tournament against Wales, where they remain in the fight for the Six Nations title.