Ben Cohen crashes over for a try
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Matches: England 80 - 23 Italy

Tournaments/Tours: Six Nations

Teams: England | Italy

Jonny Wilkinson lead England on a Six Nations points record spree as they came from behind to destroy Italy at Twickenham.

The Newcastle fly-half scored 35 points, an individual tournament record, while England's tally also smashed the previous best of 60 that they jointly held with Ireland.

The title-holders and tournament favourites posted 10 tries in total, Wilkinson claiming one of those - and booting nine conversions and four penalties for good measure.

England ran away with it in the second period, scoring 47 unanswered points after leading 33-23 at the break.

Italy, rank outsiders with the bookmakers, refused to play second fiddle, and lead 20-17 after 28 minutes following touchdowns from wing Denis Dallan and number eight Carlo Checchinato.

It all added up to a difficult time for England, 44-15 conquerors of Wales in Cardiff a fortnight ago, but once they found their rhythm, there was no stopping them.

Full-back Iain Balshaw grabbed two tries, his second a stunning 70-metre solo effort, while wing Austin Healey also claimed a brace.

As the floodgates opened, Wilkinson, Will Greenwood, Ben Cohen, Lawrence Dallaglio, together with second-half substitutes Mark Regan and Joe Worsley, also got in on the act.

Former Wigan and Great Britain rugby league star Jason Robinson made his eagerly-awaited international union debut, enjoying a 30-minute second-half run-out, but there was only one moment of magic as he found himself starved of possession.

The day though, belonged to Wilkinson, who now has more Five or Six Nations points than any other English player, his current 187 total eclipsing the achievements of both Rob Andrew and Paul Grayson.

England now move on to face Scotland at Twickenham in two weeks' time, but as with Wales, manager Clive Woodward and his coaching staff will find plenty to work on as Italy certainly exposed deficiencies early on.

England fly-half Johnny Wilkinson admitted this afternoon's performance was far from perfect despite a personal haul of 35 points in the 80-23 victory over Italy in their Six Nations clash at Twickenham.

``It was a difficult game today,'' said Wilkinson, whose score was an individual tournament record.

``Things did not go right for us in the first half and they played very well.

``But in the second half maybe we took a few more chances and were a bit more clinical in what we did with the ball in terms of holding on to it and getting it back.''

He told Sky Sports: ``There's a lot to be pleased about and there is a lot to be down about on what we can improve on.

``Hopefully we can keep the momentum going into the next game and try and build on what we are doing generally.''

Full-back Iain Balshaw said after his two tries: ``I was delighted to get over today and delighted to get a good win.''