Rugby

How England can win the Six Nations after second-half blitz of Italy sets up Super Saturday

England, Ireland and France can all lift the trophy on the final day

A flurry of second-half tries helped England see off Italy at Twickenham on Sunday and left Steve Borthwick’s side in with a shout of claiming a first title in five years on Super Saturday.

Fin Smith’s near-flawless kicking display and two tries for his Northampton Saints team-mate Ollie Sleightholme helped the hosts to a 47-22 victory.

Read more: England Six Nations squad

On an unseasonably mild March day, the crowd at Allianz Stadium were treated to a phenomenal first-half – in which Italy more than played their part, with Ross Vintcent’s scintillating try a key highlight – which finished with England 21-17 up at the break.

However, two quickfire tries for Marcus Smith – on after eight minutes after Ollie Lawrence’s injury – and Tom Curry not only secured the bonus point but blew Italy’s hopes out of the water at the start of the second 40 and allowed England fans to dream of glory.

Tommaso Menoncello added a consolation try late on for the Azzurri – equalling their highest score from last year against the men in white (from statistician Russ Petty) – but England finished worthy winners as Ben Earl, who had moved to centre for the final ten minutes or so, finished the game with a score in the corner.

How can England win the Six Nations?

After France’s commanding victory over Ireland on Saturday, les Bleus have control of their own fate. A bonus-point victory over Scotland in Paris in Super Saturday’s final encounter will guarantee Fabien Galthié’s men the Six Nations title.

A regular victory will almost certainly be enough as France have a commanding points difference of 106 which would leave England needing a massive margin of victory from their trip to Cardiff.

If France slip up and fail to win, then England will be crowned champions with a bonus-point win as that would take them to 20 points, one clear of Ireland if they take the maximum five points from their final-day clash against Italy.

If France fail to claim more than two bonus points against Scotland and if Ireland win without scoring four tries or have a worse result than that then England can take the title with a regular win at Principality Stadium.

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