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Ben Youngs Scores Two Attempts In 100th England Appearance; Jamie George scores England’s 50th cap with a try; Tom Curry and Henry Slade also score in the extra points victory; Ireland or France could still snatch the Six Nations title from England
Last Updated: 10/31/20 6:58 pm
Ben Youngs scored two attempts in his 100th appearance in England
England advanced to pole position in the race for the Six Nations title after a 34-5 victory over Italy in Rome.
Having held an impressive 10-5 lead in the interval, England improved in the second half to score four attempts and rise to the top of the table.
Test centurion Ben Youngs crossed for attempts at the start of both halves, while Jamie George scored in his 50th appearance in England.
Tom Curry took the extra point attempt with 13 minutes remaining before Henry Slade added a fifth to improve England’s scoring difference.
Tom Curry celebrates after scoring England’s extra points try
Ireland can take the title from England if they score an extra point victory over France or win by a margin of seven points or more.
Les Bleus could also win the title if they beat Ireland by 32 points and also get an extra point.
It took England just four minutes to break through the home defense, Mako Vunipola moved to the first receiver and sent Owen Farrell into a gap until Youngs appeared on his shoulder to end the play.
Farrell added a penalty to make it 10-0 after 13 minutes, but the floodgates never opened.
Henry Slade scored England’s fifth try
Instead, Italy roared back into the competition as Carlo Canno pounced on a Kyle Sinckler driving error and fed Gloucester No. 8 Jake Polledri, who beat four England defenders as he galloped into the corner.
Another setback came in the 23rd minute when rookie Jonny Hill was sent off for a high tackle, while increased indiscipline allowed Italy to increase the pressure.
Italy was also reduced to 14 men towards the end of the half when Polledri cynically stopped a maul, but just as England started to pull away at close range, they conceded a penalty and Italy escaped.
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Youngs extended England’s lead 56 seconds into the second half as Hill charged a box kick and Maro Itoje secured the fumble.
George celebrated his half century with a try from a maul and the bonus point try came with 13 minutes to go when Curry took advantage of an unprotected blind side.
Slade punished an absent Azzurri defense to extend England’s lead, but they face a nervous wait as events unfold in Paris.
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