A four-try haul by Marlie Packer helped England hammer Italy 61-33 in their latest Women’s Six Nations thrashing to record a 37th consecutive Test victory.
England secured a bonus point inside 14 minutes at Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi but John Mitchell’s world champions were pushed afterwards and only held a 40-19 lead at the break.
Packer added to her first-half brace with two more scores after the interval in a superb individual display to keep England on track for another grand slam ahead of next Sunday’s trip to France.
Injury-hit England were forced into a last-minute change after Maddie Feaunati was ruled out, with Haineala Lutui earning a first start for the Red Roses in the second row and Abi Burton lining up at No 8, but they needed only four minutes to break the deadlock when Packer touched down Zoe Harrison’s kick.
Amy Cokayne grabbed the first of a double five minutes later before Helena Rowland spotted a gap and raced over.
When Mia Venner grabbed a fourth try for the visitors in the 14th minute to put England 26-0 up, Italy looked set for a long afternoon, but they responded with aplomb.
Vittoria Vecchini got Italy on the board three minutes later before a penalty try for the hosts was followed by a Alissa Ranuccini score.
Packer had grabbed her second by this point and Burton got England off the mark after half-time.
It was followed by two more Packer tries, with Harrison able to add the extras in a 16-point haul, but Italy replacement Francesca Sgorbini went over in the 56th minute before she grabbed another on the stroke of full-time to help the hosts win the final quarter.
