England’s Six Nations campaign plunged deeper into crisis as second-half yellow cards for Sam Underhill and Maro Itoje paved the way to victory for a joyous Italy in Rome.
It is a third successive Six Nations defeat for England and Italy’s first-ever win in the fixture after 32 unsuccessful attempts.
For head coach Steve Borthwick another uninspired and insipid performance, 18 months out from the Rugby World Cup, raises the most awkward and far-reaching questions.
England will go to their final-day meeting with France next week, earmarked as a possible Grand Slam decider at the start of the tournament, as minor characters attempting to somehow avoid their first single-win campaign in Six Nations history.
While England had made heavy weather of building a lead, they seemed well insulated against such a seismic shock with an 18-10 advantage and a little more than 20 minutes left.
However, Underhill was dispatched to the sin-bin for a high hit on Northampton’s Danilo Fischetti before captain Itoje followed for mindlessly slapping the ball out of Italy scrum-half Alessandro Garbisi’s hands.
England lost two players for 10 minutes and Italy gained momentum for the rest of the match, delivering the decisive blow eight minutes from time as Paolo Garbisi, Monty Ioane and Tomasso Menoncello combined thrillingly to put Leonardo Marin in under the posts.
At the final whistle, England’s players stood around stunned as the disco lights and celebrations erupted around them. Italy had claimed history – England look to an uncertain future.
More to follow
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