England's worst nightmares became reality as Italy recorded a historic 23-18 Six Nations victory at the Stadio Olimpico, beating them for the first time.
Tasked with rising from the ruins in Rome after successive defeats to Scotland and Ireland, England's Six Nations slump plunged to new depths on a famous night for Italian rugby.
England looked on course to return to winning ways after first‑half tries from Tommy Freeman and Tom Roebuck, along with two second‑half penalties from Fin Smith.
But the contest swung on the sin‑binnings of Sam Underhill and Maro Itoje, with Leonardo Marin scoring the decisive try while the England captain was off the field as Italy claimed the prized scalp.
The win lifts Italy above England into fourth place in the Six Nations table and keeps them in contention for a top‑three finish for the first time.
With a trip to title‑chasing France awaiting in round five, second‑bottom England are staring at their worst‑ever Six Nations campaign - a result that will prompt further searching questions about their direction under Steve Borthwick.
England's preparations at the Stadio Olimpico were disrupted when Tom Curry was injured in the warm‑up, forcing Sam Underhill to step in as a late replacement.
The visitors dominated the kicking battle to control the early exchanges but failed to turn pressure into points.
It took until the 21st minute for the first score, Paolo Garbisi kicking a penalty after Italy had established a foothold in the contest.
Italy's lead lasted only five minutes, as Alex Cole's sweeping pass released Freeman to score untouched in the corner after a brutally direct line‑out routine.
The half swung back Italy's way through a moment of brilliance from Tommaso Menoncello, who sliced between Joe Heyes and Underhill to restore the hosts' advantage.
But England struck again on the stroke of half‑time, Tom Roebuck gathering Fin Smith's cross‑field kick and skipping over for a go‑ahead try after the clock had gone red.
Two Smith penalties early in the second half stretched England's lead beyond one score, and their grip tightened when Italy prop Giacomo Nicotera was sin‑binned.
But Underhill's yellow card, followed by two Garbisi penalties in four minutes, cut England's lead to two.
Moments later, Itoje was shown a yellow for slapping the ball out of Alessandro Garbisi's hands, leaving England briefly down to 13.
With the numbers in their favour, Italy seized their moment. Menoncello bulldozed his way down the wing with another inspired moment before offloading inside to Marin, who crossed for the decisive, history‑making try.
England head coach Steve Borthwick, speaking to ITV Sport:
"Credit Italy, a very good side who have developed a long way. You could see that with the level of their performance.
"We are terribly disappointed, gutted by not getting the result. For 60 minutes I thought we were in control but the two sin-binnings hurt us.
"[Discipline] has cost us. It was the forwards today but the amount of times we have been without a back-three player and conceded points... it has been a significant factor in this championship.
"It adds loads to other players and is something we need to do a lot better."
England captain Maro Itoje, speaking to ITV Sport after the loss in Rome:
"It is obviously very disappointing, and it is on us as players. We have to wear this performance and own the result. It's a results-based business.
"This team, over the last year, has put some good performances together but recently we haven't. This result wasn't good enough.
"We have to face the facts, face reality and get back to work. If we knew [what was wrong] we probably wouldn't be in this position.
"We have to stick together. Teams go through tough periods and we have having one now. We take responsibility for that as players."
