Up in the stands the royal princes, William and Harry, were having a rare old time, laughing and cheering whenever the cameras came their way.

At one stage Harry even seemed to be proferring some advice to England director of rugby Rob Andrew.

Down on the Twickenham pitch, however, the England players were giving a performance which was anything but royal, even allowing for their 20-7 victory against Italy.

True, there was a stirring slice of history after just 181 seconds when Jonny Wilkinson slotted over a penalty from the halfway line to overtake the 406 mark of Welshman Neil Jenkins as the highest points scorer in the history of the
championship.

And there was a splendid try from Jason Robinson to reaffim how important he is to Brian Ashton's rejuvenation.

But for too much of this RBS Six Nations match the fans would have derived more thrills from creosoting the garden fence. It was dreadful. Always disjointed, at times distressingly inept.

If the 42-20 victory over Scotland was two steps forward then this was one stride back.

Wilkinson's kicking out of hand was far from flawless while the three-quarter line, until deep into the second half, creaked like a rusty old gate whenever the ball was slipped through hands

Just as well then that Wilkinson the boot is back. To keep the scoreboard ticking. To bring the certainty of points to a game which called out for some invention. For someone to take a risk.

There are those who question Italy's contribution to this championship.

Since their inclusion they have beaten Wales and Scotland, pushed the rest close and given thousands of rugby fans a weekend in Rome they will never forget.

Having been destroyed by France last weekend, however, they were never going to win at Twickenham and perhaps it was that inevitability which extracted the edge from the occasion.

We should spare a thought for an Italian side intent on salvaging some pride and for Denis Dallan, the Stade Francais wing, who suffered an horrific ankle injury in attempting to tackle Josh Lewsey in the first half.

It only brought home the fragile nature of a professional sportsman's existence.

We should thank heavens for Robinson and yet another scampering memory for his portfolio of touchdowns.

Robinson's ability to operate at speed in confined space remains England's most potent try-scoring weapon. But too much of England's work was laboured.

So much so that in the 55th minute the boos were back, reminiscent of the autumn, as England threw the ball to Wilkinson to kick a penalty when the crowd wanted to see something a little more dynamic.

They were cheering soon enough when Wilkinson's fourth penalty sailed through the posts.

But Andy Farrell and Mike Tindall struggled to punch holes in a tight Italian defence and up front the white shirts failed to dominate as they had done seven days earlier.

It was no more than Italy deserved when fly-half Andrea Scanavacca broke clear from a ruck to skip over between the posts after the game's most thrilling passage of play.

The first hint of embarrasment was in the air and the sight of Wilkinson attempting a drop goal only highlighted the lack of options outside him.

So where does it leave England?

Well, it was a win, their second in a row, and three months ago that would have been the cue for a street party.

But the tedious Mexican Wave that the fans set in motion towards the end told of England's lack of enterprise.

When the crowd have to make their own entertainment it is a sure bet that what is on show is less than ordinary.

The real test comes up next against Ireland at Croke Park in a fortnight. That will tell us if England's rejuvenation under Ashton has legs.