Italy 15 England 46: Sam Simmonds Six Nations debut try secures bonus point but win is marred by Ben Youngs injury

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Richard Parry4 February 2018

England won their opening match of the Six Nations with a 15-46 victory over Italy in Rome.

Sam Simmonds was among the scorers on what was his Six Nations debut, providing the fourth try for the Red Rose that secured the bonus point. The Exeter Chiefs star would go on to score a second try in the final ten minutes to gap a dream outing for 23-year-old.

George Ford and Jack Nowell also got in on the act as Italy's challenge crumbled.

The hosts' solitary second-half try came from Mattia Bellini who dived over in the corner, with the television match official giving his nod to the scorer who stayed just inside touch when dotting down.

Tommaso Boni had earlier seen a try disallowed for Italy due to a forward pass when England's lead stood at just 20-10, to relief in the Red Rose ranks.

Photo: Shaun Botterill/Getty Images
Shaun Botterill/Getty Images

Ben Te’o, making his first competitive start since October, last roughly 60 minutes of the match, but England were dealt an injury blow in the opening exchanges.

Photo: Getty Images
Getty Images

Having taken a third-minute lead through the first of Anthony Watson’s two tries, Ben Youngs was forced off on a stretcher after sustaining a nasty knee injury. First impressions suggest that the Leicester Tigers scrum half will now miss the remainder of the championship.

Starting line-ups

Italy: Minozzi, Benvenuti, Boni, Castello, Bellini, Allan, Violi, Lovotti, Ghiraldini, Ferrari, Zanni, Budd, Negri, Giammarioli, Parisse.

Replacements: Bigi, Quaglio, Pasquali, Biagi, Mbanda, Gori, Canna, Hayward.

England: Brown, Watson, Te'o, Farrell, May, Ford, Youngs, Vunipola, Hartley, Cole, Launchbury, Itoje, Lawes, Robshaw, Simmonds.

Replacements: George, Hepburn, Williams, Kruis, Underhill, Care, Joseph, Nowell.

Referee: Mathieu Raynal (France)

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