England kept their chances of winning the Guinness Six Nations Cup alive with a 47-24 win over Italy to secure bonus points at the Allianz Stadium.
Steve Borthwick has put his side ahead of Ireland and into second place behind France with a maximum five-point lead heading into next weekend's 'Super Saturday' final.
To lift the Six Nations trophy, England will need to repeat their success against Wales, with Scotland hoping to surprise France in Paris, but the odds are slim.
It was a third successive victory in the tournament after narrow wins over France and Scotland. Although Italy, who suffered a crushing 73-24 home defeat to France just a week earlier, trailed England by less than a point at the break, the England team celebrated Jamie George's 100th cap in style.
First-half tries came from Tom Willis, Tommy Freeman and Ollie Sleightholme, all converted by Finn Smith. Italy responded with touchdowns from Ange Capuozzo and Ross Vincent, while Paolo Garbisi added a penalty and two conversions.
With Ollie Lawrence apparently injured and out of action in Cardiff, Marcus Smith came on at centre and Tom Curry fired in quick succession in the third quarter to leave Italy in a quandary and effectively end the game as a contest.
Sleightholme added his second touchdown during a run of three tries in nine minutes, and Fin Smith doubled his tally to six, and Italy were finished off despite a late goal from Tommaso Menoncello, which Garbisi converted. Flanker Ben Earl added England's seventh try on the final play of the game.
England have risen to the task, although Wales are determined to avoid a second Six Nations defeat and a 17th successive Test defeat.
England took the lead after just four minutes when a clever move involving Freeman and Curry ended with Willis falling and Finn Smith's fine strike made it seven points.
The Italians may have stretched their defence too thin early on, but then England
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