Jack Willis let out a Twickenham roar as he banished his rugby demons and got Steve Borthwick’s England off the mark.
Willis was back at the scene of his darkest day, on the same pitch against the same opponents that he wrecked his knee two years ago.
He wasted no time exorcising those ghosts, ploughing over for the early try which set England on their way to Six Nations victory.
“The emotion took over a little bit when I scored,” admitted the flanker, who brought 20 friends and family with him to Twickenham. “I looked up and saw the crowd. That was pretty special.”
Despite notable improvement in England’s basics this was still not a performance to strike any sort of fear into Ireland and France.
Borthwick’s men had the four-try bonus point wrapped up inside 50 minutes but for the hour or more after Willis’ try there was not a moment to rival it.
Perhaps it was because the crowd knew his back story, how the joy of scoring his first England try in 2021 had turned to horror moments later.
How his body had contorted in a ‘crocodile roll’ which tore and ruptured ligaments in his left knee. How his anguished cry echoed around a stadium empty due to the Covid restrictions of the time.
And how, having finally put his body back together 12 months later, he returned to the game only to be made redundant by the demise of his club Wasps.
That motivation fuelled him as he powered through two tackles on 13 minutes before hurling the ball skywards with an emotional yell.
“It was pretty much two years to this week that I did my knee,” said Willis, now a Toulouse player. “So it was a little bit emotional, thinking how grateful I am to put the shirt on again and be out here.”
He was not done and had made 14 tackles by the half hour mark as England fed off his energy to make hay at scrum, maul and lineout.
Ollie Chessum went over for a second, from Ellis Genge’s smart assist, before Jack Van Poortvliet crossed from Max Malins’ beautiful set-up, only to see it chalked off by an off the ball obstruction.
No worry, England were in full flow, so much better balanced with two orthodox centres and Ollie Lawrence, in particular, punching holes.
Owen Farrell kicked to the corner, Lewis Ludlam took the lineout and Jamie George dived in for a 19-point half-time lead.
Italy rallied after the break, Marco Riccione rounding off a fine move before Alessandro Fusco came off the bench to exploit a defensive misunderstanding around the edge of a ruck.
But England dug deep to win a penalty try and bag the bonus point, then sent on Alex Mitchell and Henry Arundell to combine for the latter to score with his first meaningful touch.
Borthwick was pleased to get his first win but, with heavyweights France and Ireland still to come, not to mention a trip to winless Wales next - he is not about to get carried away.
ENGLAND - Tries: Willis, Chessum, George, Penalty, Arundell. Cons: Farrell 2.
ITALY - Tries: Riccioni, Fusco. Cons: Allan 2.
