England in promising position midway through Six Nations campaign – Jamie George

Jamie George insists England enter the middle phase of their Guinness Six Nations in a promising position after overrunning Italy in Rome.

A conclusive five-try rout at the Stadio Olimpico – in which the Azzurri were nilled for the first time in the fixture – began the rebuilding process following the crushing late defeat by Scotland in round one.

Eddie Jones’ men have climbed to second in the table and with France, the competition’s only unbeaten side, to come on the final weekend, they remain firmly in the title hunt.

Home clashes with Wales and Ireland are up next and George believes the victory over Italy has struck the right balance of nudging England back on track, while identifying areas for improvement.

“Overall it was a good performance. We knew that we were coming up against a much-improved Italy team and we saw that in the way that they brought it to us,” George said.

“There was a lot of good to take out of the game. Like against Scotland, there was a lot of good to take out of that also. We built on the Scotland game.

“It wasn’t a perfect performance by any means but we’re definitely taking steps in the right direction. Our intent to play and some of our attacking stuff was brilliant.

“There’s lots to work on and lots to be happy with, which is exactly where we want to be leading into this fallow week.

“We’re still really disappointed with last week but at the same time this sets us up nicely. We’ve got three tough games coming up starting with Wales.”

George showed his carrying power as he helped himself to two tries in Rome but while his second was a bulldozing finish, the score truly belonged to Ellis Genge who floated a long missed pass to his front-row colleague.

It was a highlights reel moment that