Sunday 12 February 2017 17:43, UK
England head coach Eddie Jones believes his side have "used up all of their get-out-of jail cards" after a hard-fought 21-16 over Wales on Saturday.
The first defeat of the Australian's coaching reign appeared on the cards as Wales led by two points with four minutes remaining, but a score from wing Elliot Daly saw England secure victory in the nail-biting encounter.
England also beat France with a late try in their opening match of the Six Nations last week at Twickenham.
"I think we have used up all our get-out-of-jail cards, so against Italy we don't want to be in that situation that we were today" said Jones post-match.
"I thought it was a great game of Test rugby. A really good contest all around the park. A lot of credit has got to go to Wales. I thought their defence today was superb, they hit hard and hit often and worked hard off the ball, which made it a fantastic Test match.
As well as praising his opponents Jones paid tribute to his own team, singling out their composure and grit as areas of positivity.
He said: "Firstly, our first 20 and our last 20. In our first 20 we were one or two passes away from maybe scoring three tries and the last 20 we just showed outstanding composure to win that game of rugby.
"The second thing was our grit, we have now become a team that is hard to beat. We are a gritty team and we have got characters in there that don't know how to get beaten and that was evident today.
"At stages I thought we were going to fade out of the game, but we hung in there making tackles.
"Courtney Lawes is like a human ice-pack. He has ice all over him after that many tackles and carries. Joe Launchbury as well."
Daly showed his lightning pace when he sprinted across the whitewash to break Welsh hearts, and in the same half he had covered back to prevent Dan Biggar from scoring an intercept try.
"The boy's got gas and he's got that x-factor about him and that's what we like about him," Jones said. "I don't necessarily think wing is his best position, but it suits us at the moment.
"You've got to be running over 10 metres per second to score that try, and he can do that.
"Elliot might get a run out for Manchester United with that kick out [after Biggar interception]. It was a pretty good tackle. He did really well for us."
Despite finishing off strongly in the Cardiff showdown, Jones was all too aware that his side's consistency will have to improve if they are to continue their winning ways when they welcome Italy to Twickenham on February 26.
Jones added: "Obviously we want to improve our consistency. We had a good first 20, a great last 20 but the middle 40 was a bit indifferent.
"We have got two weeks now to get ready for Italy and we are looking forward to playing them at Twickenham. It will be good to get back to Twickenham again and play the Italians, who we have never been beaten by. They are obviously coming off a tough game today which will make them even more difficult to beat."
