England blank Italy 37-0 at St James Park

England 37-0 Italy, St James Park
Scorecard

England will head into the World Cup campaign brimming with confidence as they blanked Italy 37-0 in their encounter at St James Park on Friday.

The red rose team continued their dominance over Italy as they maintained their winning streak against them and it never looked easy for the visitors without their skipper Sergio Parisse.

Owen Farrell kick started the proceedings with a fifth minute penalty goal and by the 12th minute Italy missed a scoring opportunity when Tommaso Benvenuti dropped the ball going for the corner.

The remainder of the first half saw Farrell kick two more penalties but England will have a nervous wait over Joe Launchbury, who left the field with an injury in the 33rd minute.

The opening try of the game came in the 45th minute when Ben Youngs went from the base of the ruck to touchdown and Farrell's conversion made the scoreline 16-0.

By the 53rd minute, England got their second try when Joe Marchant grabbed a short pass from Youngs to dive over the line and Farrell slotted the extras making it 23-0.

There was no looking back for Eddie Jones' men as they closed the game well in the final 15 minutes when Ellis Genge got on the end of a rolling maul to score their third try and Anthony Watson also followed the suit in the 74th minute to complete a 37-0 win.