Marcus Smith sparks emphatic 33-0 Six Nations victory for England in Italy

England showed the ruthless streak demanded by Eddie Jones as they atoned for their disappointing defeat by Scotland last week by outclassing Italy 33-0 at the Stadio Olimpico.

Jones had urged his team to “light up Rome” and in response they delivered a five-try rout orchestrated by Marcus Smith, the man of the match, to inflict a 34th successive Championship defeat on the Azzurri.

England had stormed 21-0 ahead by half-time and Smith was at the heart of many of their best moments, but he truly shone when firing a superb missed pass to provide Elliot Daly with a simple try in the 45th minute.

And unlike at Murrayfield a week earlier when Smith was replaced in the 63rd minute to widespread puzzlement, there was no sign of George Ford arriving off the bench until late on and this time Joe Marchant made way.

Ben Youngs eventually joined him at half-back to equal Jason Leonard’s record as England’s most capped player on 114 appearances, with the round-three visit of Wales to Twickenham the likely setting for him to surpass the milestone.

But, having replaced the impressive Harry Randall, Youngs entered a team who were in the midst of losing their way as Italy discovered renewed purpose to spend long spells camped in opposition territory, albeit with little end product.

An England side showing six changes in personnel following their Calcutta Cup setback struggled to reimpose themselves, taking some gloss off the victory.

Italy defended manfully for stretches and it took resilience to hold out against a sustained attack on their line in the first half, but they were also wasteful with the chances they created. They traditionally provide stiff opposition for an hour until eventually being worn down, but it took just nine