CARDIFF,Wales — England’s new coach, Eddie Jones, had already talked a good game, and the last half-hour of his second Six Nations match saw his team play one.
At risk of a first defeat ever by Italy, which trailed only 11-9 with less than half an hour to go in Rome on Sunday, England pulled away with four tries in 22 minutes, the first three in 18 minutes from outside center Jonathan Joseph, for a final margin of 40-9.
The victory improved England to 2-0, ahead of France in the standings on the point-difference tiebreaker. Together with France’s 10-9 victory over Ireland in Paris Saturday, it almost certainly ends Irish hopes of a third consecutive title.