Thursday 2 March 2017 15:06, UK
England captain Dylan Hartley says he is to blame for the time it took England to adjust to Italy's tactics at the weekend.
England remain on course for back-to-back Grand Slams after their 36-15 success at Twickenham on Sunday.
But the margin of victory was bolstered by late tries and the Azzurri's controversial strategy of refusing to engage in rucks has sparked a debate within the game.
Such tactics have been used before at club and international level, but never in such wholesale fashion, and England struggled for much of the match.
Hartley said: "That was a Test match and it was a test that we passed.
"But we have looked at scenarios where, if it happens again, we can react more quickly. That is my biggest learning.
"Hindsight is wonderful and, if I could go back, I would have seen what was happening earlier and dealt with it earlier. But it's a learning, it won't happen again.
"It took too long in the first half and that's my fault. I was trying to figure out what was happening.
"I was confused as to what was going on, so I questioned the ref.
"The ref wasn't going to change his mind, I couldn't change his mind. So I just rolled with it and we found a way to play around it.
"It's been addressed, the scenario is covered. We have learned from it.
"And if it happens again we will be well tooled-up to deal with it."
England also required strong finishes to win their opening two matches against France and Wales but Hartley disputes the suggestion they have not convinced.
"From where I'm sat, I'm part of a winning team and we're getting better every week," he said.
"We're winning games. What more do you want?
"We're fit, we execute the late stages of the game, and other teams can't compete with that - that's why we've won games. That's not luck, it's because we work hard.
"We could have lost to Wales and France, but we didn't. We trained hard with a 23-man squad, which we back to win games. And we're not playing against mugs.
"I remember at the start of this tournament, everyone was saying this is the most open tournament there's ever been.
"If we've won three games from three, we're in a pretty good place in an open tournament, aren't we? That's not luck. We've earned that.
"You bump into people who say, 'You just got through at the weekend', or 'You were lucky at the weekend'. I want to abolish luck.
"It was not luck. You make your own luck by training hard in the week."
