TWICKENHAM -- For the first time in the Eddie Jones era, England were left searching for answers. Sure, they went on to beat Italy and get the bonus point with six tries, but England spent the first half asking referee Romain Poite for clarification of the ruck laws as the Azzurri wreaked havoc by doing something bafflingly simple: they refused to compete at the breakdown.
The ref mics in the stadium were a goldmine of England beffudlement. Twice Poite -- first to James Haskell and then Dylan Hartley -- was asked about the laws and answered: "I'm sorry, I'm the referee, not the coach".
The tactic Italy deployed at the breakdown worked a charm; their defence coach Brendan Venter watched on with restless concentration. The basic metrics saw Italy leaving just the tackler at the breakdown, rather than bringing in other players to form a ruck, meaning there was no offside line. Edoardo Gori trolled Twickenham by constantly hovering around Danny Care, on England's side of the gainline, waiting for an interception.
The Twickenham crowed was agitated, constantly screaming offside at Poite. But the referee had it bang on. England players themselves got tetchy as well, errors were far too frequent and Italy went into the break 10-5 to the good. It was entirely merited.
England were rattled, but this was not a new tactic. The Chiefs used it in 2014, while Australia -- with David Pocock the chief irritant -- employed it against Ireland in the autumn. But England could not adapt to the tactic, constantly getting in Poite's ear about exactly how they could halt this outlier. He spent the half shouting "tackle only", making the point to England that Italy were fully in their rights to hover with intent. Eventually they deployed it themselves in the 55th minute, which led to the first rendition of 'Swing, Low'.
It was Venter brilliance. The Italy defence coach - officially in a consultant capacity - is one of the canniest operators in world rugby. He started the Saracens revolution as we know it today, and his skills are in demand to the extent his native South Africa are reportedly keen to recruit him in a defence coach capacity. Italy, who have an agreement with him until 2019, will be doing everything they can to keep him.
And all this just a fortnight after they shipped 63 points to Ireland. The whipping boys had become the canniest rugby team in the Six Nations, and all this on a week were their championship existence was being questioned and criticised.
Head coach Conor O'Shea also deserves credit -- it's the sort of thing he'd have enjoyed working on during the week. And it shows that though he knows his team are not the strongest in the competition, with clever coaching comes parity. Of sorts, at least.
After all, for all that Italy deserve enormous credit for their disruption, England did find some tempo. After a first 40 minutes where they were pinned inside their own half, they started the second stanza with urgency and directness. They used the 'pick and go' with more regularity and the two quickfire scores from first Danny Care -- a tap and go which saw him score in the corner -- and then a lovely move to tee up Elliot Daly gave them a lead they never surrendered.
They eventually found a way to break down the rugby equivalent of 'parking the bus'. Italy simply did not have the nous to turn confusion in England's ranks into a commanding enough lead. The departure of Gori led to them losing momentum in and around the breakdown, and the hustling of England's scrum-half, while the ageless, wonderful Sergio Parisse needed more ball carriers to punch holes in England's defence. Michele Campagnaro scored a barrelling try in the second half, but they needed more besides.
England will look at this as not only a job done but also a hugely important lesson learned. Though they are on this remarkable winning run that now stands at 17 matches, they did look vulnerable, like they did at times against both France and Wales in the opening fortnight. Both Scotland, who were so impressive on Saturday in beating Wales, and Ireland will hope to take advantage of this in the final two weeks.
Again it showed how much England miss Billy Vunipola. Nathan Hughes had a horrible start to the game and does not have the same ball-carrying ability as the injured Saracens No.8 and at a time when they were struggling to string backs moves together due to the Italian tactics, they needed that ballast to set a platform and punch holes.
Owen Farrell also struggled from the tee, but in fairness the wind was vicious at Twickenham, swirling around the stadium with no rhyme nor reason. In total, eight kicks were missed by both teams, including a Tommaso Allan attempt before halftime that hit the upright and was pounced upon by Giovanbattista Venditti for a stunning try.
Amid the confusion, there were positives for England. Maro Itoje played well in the loose while Daly is looking more and more accomplished as a Test winger -- British & Irish Lions recognition surely lies in wait. Ben Te'o did well at outside centre and is another viable option there for Eddie Jones while Jack Nowell made a great impact from the bench as did Kyle Sinckler.
But though they ended up losing at Twickenham, this was the day Italy stuck two fingers up at the doubters. For England, there were as many questions as answers. Jones said he had a sleepless night after their win over France, working out how they started so slow. And although they solved the ruckless riddle, he may have some more after this win over Italy.