Jonathan Joseph hat-trick powers England to 40-9 victory over Italy in Six Nations

A hat-trick of tries by centre Jonathan Joseph and a storming second-half performance swept a previously stuttering England to a 40-9 victory over Italy on Sunday that took them top of the Six Nations standings after back-to-back away wins.

England were clinging to an 11-9 lead courtesy of a first-half George Ford try but struggling to build any cohesive attacks as Italy, with three Carlo Canna penalties in the bag, were holding their own.

Joseph, however, was gifted an interception try after 53 minutes and grabbed his second five minutes later to change the game.

He completed his treble with a driving run and Owen Farrell, who also landed three penalties, added an excellent fifth as the game followed the pattern so familiar in the previous 21 encounters, all won by England.

“We thought we’d get our points in the last 20 minutes and that’s how it turned out,” England coach Eddie Jones told ITV.

“We got our rhythm and it was a pretty good performance. We tried to put pace in the game and get them fatigued.”

The first half was the usual arm wrestle that this fixture so often throws up with Ford’s sharp try in the corner a rare highlight.