England suffered a historic first defeat to Italy with a 23-18 collapse at the Stadio Olimpico raising the grim prospect of falling to their worst Guinness Six Nations finish.
An 18-10 lead built through tries from Tommy Freeman and Tom Roebuck and the boot of Fin Smith crumbled in the third quarter when Paolo Garbisi turned the tide by landing two penalties.
Italy then took advantage of Sam Underhill and Maro Itoje being sent to the sin-bin to strike the decisive blow when Leonardo Marin finished a thrilling try down the left touchline.
The Azzurri found the killer touch when it mattered most, condemning England to a third consecutive mauling that intensifies the scrutiny on Steve Borthwick’s regime.
It was a maiden defeat in 32 meetings with the Azzurri in a fixture dating back to 1992 and should they also come up short against France in Paris on Saturday, they will end the Six Nations with just one victory for the first time.
