MARTIN JOHNSON admitted he was relieved to escape Rome with a victory after watching England battle to an unconvincing 17-12 win against Italy.

Mathew Tait’s try early in the second half ultimately proved the difference – but England needed a late Jonny Wilkinson drop goal to finally kill off a spirited Italian effort.

The Azzurri had trailed 14-6 but pushed England to the brink with four penalties from Mirco Bergamasco.

“You play Italy over here and it is never easy,” said Johnson.

“Scotland have lost here, Wales have lost here. I am happy to win today. It was a tough, physical game which we thought it would be.

“The frustrating thing is we opened them up but we didn’t take those chances.

“The guys knew they could have done better. You can lose close games like that if you lose your discipline and composure.

“It was disappointing in the second half, we lost five lineouts and we couldn’t get field position. That is a big number of set-piece balls to lose.

“We were attacking from 80 metres out. It makes it tough, we didn’t have enough possession in their half.”

England showed in flashes how dangerous an attacking force they could be and Tait’s try was well-crafted by Nick Easter, Ugo Monye and Delon Armitage.

But England spent far too long engaged in an aimless kicking contest and Johnson criticised his players for failing to impose themselves.

“There were times when we could have kept it in hand a little bit more because when we did we looked good. The try we took very well,” said Johnson.

“At times we did play good rugby but there wasn’t a try on the end of it. We missed kicks and try-scoring opportunities that would have changed the nature of the game.

“Six-all at half-time is approximately where we expected it to be.

“We found a way to score but from there you want to keep the pressure on. We didn’t.

“The kick-chase wasn’t good enough. When we did that we got turnovers, when we didn’t it gave them a platform to create pressure.

“We lost that game for the majority of the match.

“The guys are happy to win but they knew they could have done better.”

Italy were left hugely disappointed after pushing England to the very end for the second time in three years but falling 17-12 in the RBS 6 Nations.

Trailing 14-6 early in the second half and a man down after Martin Castrogiovanni’s yellow card, the Azzurri cut the deficit to 14-12 late in the second half but ultimately lost 17-12.

England’s Jonny Wilkinson had an off-day, with three penalty misses, while the visitors did just enough to secure their second win of the tournament thanks to Mathew Tait’s try early in the second half.

Italy coach Nick Mallett said: “If you look at the game it came down to that try.

“There was not much difference between the two sides. I thought the game would be decided by a mistake.

“Andrea Masi had a very good game but he unfortunately got his head on the wrong side of the tackle and England scored the only try.

“It’s unusual that Wilkinson doesn’t kick that well.”

Mallett conceded that even though it was a close game, he never thought England would give the win away.

“I never felt England were there for the taking,” he said.

“They had more opportunities than us. In the first half, Tito Tebaldi made a crucial tackle to stop England from scoring a try.”

Mallett’s side lost its opener 29-11 at Ireland but he is seeing a lot of determination in his players and that bodes well for the future.

“I’m proud of the way the guys played,” Mallett said.

“We improved in areas of the game that we had struggled with in Ireland.

“Our attacking play and speed were better than the game against Ireland.

“I think it’s good the team is disappointed.

“Before the game, the players would have been happy to get so close to England.

“But now the feeling is of frustration because you got close.

“We are always ambitious. We had a tough time against Ireland and today we had an opportunity.

“This team does not lack ambition, it’s a team that wants to be among the 10 best in the world and grow in our play and discipline.”

Mallett believes his side’s performance against England will be a boost in confidence for their game against Scotland in Rome on February 27.

“I believe my team is growing and we hope that in two weeks’ time we can play a good game against Scotland,” he said.