England 47-24 Italy: Hosts shine in Six Nations sun but Cardiff cauldron awaits

Although the weather might not have been perfect, the atmosphere of the playoffs was already palpable as the team bus pulled into the Twickenham parking lot. The sun shone on southwest London, and fans shed their coats, embracing the changing season. The England team also needed to show a fresh face in the game.

The standings demanded that England go all out. France led the standings with a powerful offensive firepower, and England needed a bonus-point victory to increase their hopes of winning the title, however slim. More importantly, fans were expecting to see an exciting game.

Previously, England had failed to show a smooth attack, citing strong opponents, harsh playing environments, and poor weather conditions. But today, all the conditions were in place, and England should show their ambition and creativity. England had a perfect record against Italy, with 31 wins in as many games.

In the final moments of the game, Ben Earl's dashing score added another try for England, extending the lead to 23 points and extending the winning streak against Italy to 32 games. The 47-24 victory made people feel that England did not disappoint this opportunity. Luke Cowan-Dickie said after the game: "We tried more attacks, we got seven tries, so some things worked."

"We try to attack from anywhere. We know there will be risks, but we want to show the fans that we don't want to kick the ball too much, but want to control the ball more and attack." Winger Ollie Sleightholme added, who scored two tries for the team in this game. "Our players decided to break through the opponent, get more tries, and be more aggressive when controlling the ball."

The data clearly showed this. England kicked the ball 31 times in this game, but carried the ball 145 times. In the previous game against Scotland, they kicked the ball more times than they carried the ball, and carried the ball 67 times less. Even considering the different opponents, this was a significant shift.

This tactic is not natural for the England coaching staff, who led Leicester to win the Premier League title in 2022 by relying on precise possession and a lot of kicking. Even after almost completely adopting the back line of the 2024 domestic champion Northampton, England's attack still needed time to get rid of its rustiness. A bad pass by Tommy Freeman caused the audience in the stands to sigh within 30 seconds. Earl was also intercepted by his opponent due to a mistake shortly after.

For most of the first half, Italy was more active, with more clever runs and more accurate passes. But as the old saying goes, England first earned the right to play the game, and then played better in the second half.

Marcus Smith was the key. He started this tournament as the core of England's attack, but sat on the bench in this game. His defensive ability has always been questioned, but his interception of Matt Gallagher in the early part of the second half was impeccable in both intent and execution. Two minutes later, he also perfectly seized the opportunity in the attack, and cooperated seamlessly with Tom Curry's run to successfully score a try. This key 10-point turnaround relieved the pressure and allowed England to relax and play their style.

By the time Sleightholme scored his second try, it was a wonderful passing combination, and England's forwards improvised increasingly bizarre passes. By then, Italy's defense had collapsed. Of course, this still cannot be compared with the extraordinary ball-handling ability shown by France in Dublin the day before. But for England, this was definitely an improvement.

For head coach Steve Borthwick, there are many positive aspects. Finn Smith was calm in the game, and once again showed his accurate shooting ability, controlling the rhythm of the game in the fly-half position. Fraser Dingwall was unexpectedly arranged in the center position due to Lawrence's injury, but he was smart enough to find a solution. Elliot Daly, the other half of this temporary midfield combination, made excellent use of angles. The 32-year-old's ability, whether it is wisdom or quick reaction, will increase slowly and steadily with age.

Ollie Chessum, Tom Curry and Earl's running range was wide and effective. Ben Curry and Chandler Cunningham-South added energy from the bench. Jamie George felt the love of the fans in his 100th game for England, and they stood up and applauded to pay tribute to him. He and his front-row teammates once again dominated the set pieces.

There are tougher days and stricter tests ahead. The final day in Cardiff may be one of them. Under the leadership of Matt Sherratt, Wales has begun to recover. Disrupting England's hopes of winning the title while avoiding winning the "wooden spoon" will create an extraordinary atmosphere under the roof of the Millennium Stadium.

The sunshine and support next week may not be so abundant. In that downtown furnace, England may not get much support either. That will be a completely different feeling. The challenge for England is to achieve a similar result - and hope that France may make a mistake, so that the trophy unexpectedly tilts towards them.