Five talking points: England caught cold by Italian rules of engagement

1 England took far too long to respond to legal challenge

It had the fingerprints of Brendan Venter, the Italy defence coach who was brought to Saracens by Eddie Jones in 2009, all over it – and it worked a treat. Italy’s tactic of refusing to engage in rucks after tackling their opponent meant there was no offside line when the ball came back and it baffled Jones’s team. Time and again the England players could be heard remonstrating with the referee, Romain Poite, but as he correctly and continually pointed out, that is the law. Danny Care was among the most frustrated of England’s players while James Haskell, when trying to seek clarification, was told by Poite: “I’m sorry; I’m a referee, not a coach.” England’s second-half response was pretty emphatic but the fact they needed the coaches to tell them how to solve the problem is a concern, nearly as much as the fact they did not appear to know the law in the first place.

2 Slow-boiling starters put Jones’s star rating in peril

For all that England’s finishers are producing for Jones, slow starts are becoming a feature of his tenure. Owen Farrell made two uncharacteristic mistakes in the opening quarter – failing to find touch with a penalty and choosing to carry when isolated – while Dan Cole conceded three penalties in the same amount of time. George Ford also kicked into touch on the full and Nathan Hughes was guilty of a careless knock-on. The more they tried to shake themselves from their slumber the more error-prone they became. Maro Itoje was perhaps the only Englishman who could be anything like satisfied with his first‑half performance. Italy’s no-ruck tactic clearly threw England but while Jones talks of his side not yet producing an “80-minute performance”, a first 40 would be a good place to start.

3 England missed a chance to experiment on the fly

Ford does not shy away from the physical stuff but increasingly England’s opponents are targeting him. France and Wales both did so, sending their big, heavy opponents down his channel to get over the gain-line. He does not miss many tackles but he missed a costly one on Michele Campagnaro, who is not big nor particularly heavy but is deceptively powerful. It makes Jones’s decision not to experiment with Farrell at No10 and Ben Te’o, who was quietly impressive at outside centre, at No12 all the more surprising. Ford is a class act with the ball in hand but Jones knows exactly what he will get from the Bath man and as opponents continue to target him, would it not have been more beneficial for England to develop options beyond their first-choice No10?

4 Italians must have ended up kicking themselves

Judging by the fact that Farrell had such a bad day from the tee, kicking conditions at Twickenham cannot have been easy in this match – but how Italy would have wished to have taken their chances in the first half. The visiting team took a five‑point lead into the interval but it could have been far better for Conor O’Shea’s side had Tommaso Allan, in at fly-half for Carlo Canna, not missed two eminently achievable penalties and turned down further opportunities that a kicker of world‑class standing would have fancied their chances of making. Considering England’s response in the first 10 minutes of the second half, it may not have had any impact on the end result but it would have made life that little bit more difficult for Jones’s team.

5 Progress of new faces to old hands has been vital

It came as quite the surprise when Jones omitted Itoje and Elliot Daly from his first matchday squad to face Scotland just over a year ago. He was keen to temper expectations of both of them, particularly Itoje, but both have emerged as nailed-on starters in the space of 12 months. Itoje has been improving throughout the tournament but while Dylan Hartley – who lasted 55 minutes this time – was busy trying to get his head around what Italy were doing at the breakdown, the blindside flanker held things together for England. Daly did not see a huge amount of the ball but finished his try superbly and did little wrong. The pair were cut from the 2015 World Cup squad at the same time and have continued to make a mockery of that decision.