Clive Woodward tonight put the emphasis on positives after England stayed on course for a Grand Slam by crushing RBS 6 Nations opponents Italy at Twickenham.

England raced to a 40-5 victory, but the size of their success could not mask an often error-strewn display.

Woodward's men posted five tries during a blistering opening 21 minutes - but then went almost 50 minutes without scoring another point.

Italy dominated much of the game in terms of possession, and England were never able to turn a 33-0 advantage into the points landslide a Twickenham full house expected.

Full-back Josh Lewsey, deputising for the injured Jason Robinson, took his chance superbly and scored two tries - while there were also touchdowns for Mike Tindall, Dan Luger, James Simpson-Daniel and Steve Thompson.

Captain Jonny Wilkinson booted four conversions before going off injured early in the second half, while scrum-half Matt Dawson also landed a conversion.

But once again there were fitness concerns for England.

While Wilkinson is expected to recover quickly after being on the receiving end of a crunching collision, the prospects for his fly-half replacement Charlie Hodgson are not so good.

Hodgson was on the field for just six minutes before suffering a knee problem, and Woodward said tonight: ``I think it is quite serious - it is not looking too good.''

Despite today's stop-start effort, England will clinch a clean sweep if they win their remaining fixtures against Scotland at Twickenham on Saturday week and then against unbeaten Ireland in Dublin eight days later.

``It was a wonderful first 20 minutes, and I am very pleased with that,'' said Woodward.

``I thought that Josh Lewsey and Mike Tindall were outstanding, while Ollie Smith and Mike Worsley did well after going on for their first caps.

``After the first 20 minutes, though, we couldn't get the ball off the Italians. It is a strange game to analyse, and the dressing room was very quiet afterwards.

``But it is hats off to Italy. From 33-0 down, to dominate the rest of the game like they did was pretty impressive.

``We were never going to lose after the start we had, but the remaining 60 minutes probably overshadowed the first 20. We were not at our best.

``There was some fantastic rugby played in the first 20 minutes - there is no doubt that the positives are there for us. Italy could have folded but they are a far better team than they were 12 months ago - they have moved on tremendously
well.''

England assistant coach Andy Robinson identified the line-out as a key problem area for his team.

``The biggest problem we had is that our line-outs didn't function as well as we would have liked,'' he said.

``We could also keep the ball for only one or two phases, which meant we had a lot of defensive work to do - and there were also a lot of knock-ons and dropped passes.''

Woodward also praised Italy, adding: ``Well done to them. They were in line for a hiding at one stage but we let them off the hook.''

England centre Mike Tindall said: ``We were on fire for 20 minutes and kept it simple but then we lost it. We lost our shape.

``I think we tried to overcomplicate things. We tried to offload balls that weren't on. It was a bizarre game.''

England will now have a week off before preparing to face Scotland, and on today's evidence Woodward must hope some of his several injured players will be available.

However well England played during the opening quarter, there was no hiding from the fact that they sorely missed established names like Martin Johnson, Neil Back and Lewis Moody as the game wore on.

Woodward will take today's victory - and more importantly the points that come with it - but unbeaten title rivals Ireland will surely fancy their chances at Lansdowne Road.

Italy's coach John Kirwan praised the pride which enabled his team to battle their way back into the game after being blitzed by England in the opening stages.

``I thought he showed a lot of heart and commitment. It's a young side,'' he said.

But Kirwan admitted: ``We cannot wait for 20 minutes until we start playing.

``We were getting too many people in at the contact point in the opening 20 minutes but we sorted that out and had more people ready for defence.''

Kirwan expects England to go on and contest a Six Nations decider against Ireland in Dublin but he refused to predict the outcome for Clive Woodward's team.

He said: ``I think Clive would be the opposite to me today. I think he would be very happy with the first 20 minutes but not the next 60.

``I thought they were quite outstanding during that time but you have to give Italy credit for coming back and putting them under pressure.

``I believe England can go on and set themselves up for a fantastic finale against Ireland.

``Clive's programme is on track but, at this level, if I was to give you a prediction I would be an idiot.''

Kirwan, who took over as coach this season, insists he is seeing an improvement.

``We will be hoping to finish our Six Nations on a positive note. We still have France and Scotland to go so who knows?

``At half-time we said let's hang on and keep recycling the ball and attacking.

``These things are going to help the side move on to France and Scotland.

``We have to keep rebuilding and today was important as to how our game is developing.''

Alessandro Troncon, Italy's captain, holding an ice pack to a badly swollen right eye, admitted: ``The emotions and the atmosphere were too much for us at the beginning.

``But we didn't really say anything, everyone ended up giving something and we matured as the game went on.''

Italy are hoping that right-wing Mauro Bergamasco, who failed a fitness test on a leg injury before the match, will be fit for the home clash against France in two weeks.

``We will see how he is tomorrow. It doesn't look that bad,'' said Kirwan