Italy's ruckless strategy was a good learning experience for England - Steve Borthwick

England forwards coach Steve Borthwick believes the recent Six Nations game against Italy at Twickenham last weekend was a good learning experience for the red rose team.

The Azzurri's surprised England by not engaging in rucks which allowed the Italy players to legally drift behind the tackle area without being offside leaving Eddie Jones' men trailing by 5-10 at half-time.

England boss Jones came fuming after the game on the ploy used by Conor O'Shea's men and urged World Rugby to consider revising breakdown rules to avoid such instances in future as he believes it was against the spirit of the game.

Despite, they were caught off the guard, England responded back with five tries in the second half to seal a 36-15 bonus point victory.

"We've reviewed the game. It was a good learning experience for us. Italy brought certain tactics, our players adapted," the forwards coach said.

"We scored the tries that we wanted to and we came away with five points.

"We're always looking for an 80-minute performance and this is another experience for us to learn from and we'll be better in the future."

England are currently undergoing a training camp in Oxford this week ahead of their preparation for the clash against Scotland on 11th March.

Scotland have registered victories against Ireland and Wales in the tournament and Borthwick is wary of the threat possessed by the Dark Blues.

"One thing's for sure and that's our players have come into camp a lot fresher," Borthwick said.

"Courtney Lawes after the Wales game had ice from head to toe because he was so battered.

"We had one third of the amount of rucks that we normally do in terms of comparison. The players are full of energy, which is a good thing for us.

"Scotland are a strong side playing very good rugby. They have a very tall pack and some very athletic forwards with pace."

Our 6 Nations cover is sponsored by Allett Mowers