Miles Benjamin grabbed his first try for England Saxons as they recorded their second victory in as many weeks overcoming Italy A 31-5 in Treviso.
Stuart Lancaster’s men built on last week’s 17-13 victory against Ireland A by putting in a dogged performance against a physical Italy side.
England – for whom Tom Wood also made a second half appearance – worked their way back from a 0-5 half time deficit scoring three tries through Benjamin (Worcester Warriors), Alex Goode (Saracens) and David Strettle (Harlequins) plus a penalty try.
Italy’s only points came from scrum half Pablo Canavosio (MPS Viadana) who side stepped England’s defence to go over in the 22nd minute.
An early second half Shane Geraghty (Northampton Saints) penalty got England on the scoreboard and seemed to give them a much needed boost.
And in the 58th minute they added to their three points after Strettle raced up the wing offloading inside to Northampton’s Phil Dowson to send Benjamin over, Geraghty added the conversion to ease the pressure.
England’s hard working forwards were then rewarded by referee Andrew Macpherson with a penalty try and replacement Goode slotted the conversion to extend the lead to 17-5.
Cracks started to appear in Italy’s defence in the last quarter and the Saxons dominated Goode scoring and converting his own try in 76th and then converting Strettle’s effort who showed his blistering pace charging through midfield to finish on a 31-5 high.
Lancaster said, “It was a tough first half. Italy did very well they scored a good try and we needed to break them down. We changed in the second half to a more high tempo game.
“Simon (Hardy) and Andy (Farrell) have been first class in what they’ve delivered and they are really quality additions to the coaching team.
“We’ve worked hard with this group of players I’m pleased with they way they came back in the second half. It shows the quality we have and strength in depth of players that didn’t have an opportunity last week but came through this week. And the result is through their hard work.”