Jason Robinson scored a hat-trick of livewire tries as England began the defence of the Six Nations championship with a dominant 50-9 victory over Italy.
Coach Clive Woodward's experiment of starting Robinson at centre was handsomely rewarded when the former rugby league man crossed twice in the first half, following a try by fullback Iain Balshaw, to give the world champions a 26-9 halftime lead.
Italy, whose points all came from the boot of flyhalf Rima Wakarua, kept England at bay for the first 20 minutes of the second half but were undone when winger Josh Lewsey, Robinson and flyhalf Paul Grayson, who also kicked 15 points, scored in a 10-minute burst.
Debutant forward Chris Jones added a seventh try in injury time to bring up the half-century and Woodward, who had to reshuffle his World Cup-winning team because of injuries and the retirement of captain Martin Johnson, will be well-satisfied with the first outing of the new era.