Job done for England and job done for Marcus Smith as Steve Borthwick’s side kept themselves in the Six Nations title race. Smith was dropped to the bench for this fixture with boss Borthwick saying this week he was relishing seeing him run against tired Italians.
Instead, when Ollie Lawrence popped his Achilles after eight minutes with what could be a season ender, Smith was thrust on as full-back. And he might just have rescued his chances of touring with the Lions down under this summer. The 26-year-old has lost his No.10 jersey to Fin Smith but showed he still has a part to play with an all-court display off the bench.
Yes, it was only Italy, who shipped 73 points to France in the last round, but they have proved a tough nut to crack before and Marcus Smith helped England avoid a banana skin.
They ran in seven tries, with wing Ollie Sleightholme grabbing two, and his Northampton teammate Tommy Freeman made it four from four in the tournament.
Seven tries was a feast compared to the dross England served up here against Scotland two weeks ago in their 16-15 Calcutta Cup win.
Marcus Smith scored one try and had a hand in another, with a long pass for wing Ollie Sleightholme, as he parked the disappointment of his demotion.
The Harlequin got the three biggest cheers of the day from an 82,000 crowd at Twickenham. Firstly, when the teams were announced before kick-off, secondly when he came on prematurely and thirdly when he raced over for England’s bonus point score on 44 minutes.
Derided as all flashy boots and no substance Smith put that one to bed as he also made a try-saving tackle.
Up front flanker Tom Curry put in another turbo-charged performance with no regard for his personal safety and lock Ollie Chessum was a towering presence. They can look forward to summering with the Lions in Australia.
And moment of the day came when centurion Jamie George produced a delicious offload to hand Sleightholme his second score.
George led England out on the occasion of his 100th cap for his country, with daughter Lydia in his arms, and dad Ian in the stands.
The hooker did all the nuts and bolts of his job as usual but the pass for Sleightholme, when he could have gone for the line himself could get him thrown out of the Front Row Union.
Next up are Wales but even if England get a bonus point in Cardiff on Saturday they need Scotland to do them a favour against France.
England started well enough with Elliot Daly’s neat grubber making the first score for Tommy Freeman on four minutes.
But Italy scored through the electric Ange Capuozzo and when the full-back caught England flat-footed to set a score for back row Ross Vintcent it was 14-14.
The host limped in at half-time four points up then turned on the afterburners with three tries in nine minutes through Marcus Smith, Curry and Sleightholme to calm their nerves.
They fell off in the last quarter as the usual raft of changes were made as Italy centre Tommaso Menoncello went over. But then Ben Earl, by then shifted to midfield himself, finished it by crashing over and England are still alive. Mathematically at least.
Scorers:
England: Tries: Willis, Freeman, Sleightholme (2), M.Smith, T.Curry, Earl; Cons: F.Smith (6)
Italy: Tries: Capuozzo, Vintcent, Menoncello; Cons: Garbisi (3); Pen: Garbisi