Amid the chaos, Hannah Botterman crashed over, before Abbie Ward, the first England player in the era of Red Roses professionalism to return to Test rugby as a mother, followed up with a precious second. The Bristol Bears second row was the epitome of calmness as her team-mates laboured around the pitch in a sloppy first half that saw them cough up five penalties, with England knowing a big reset was required after the break.
Some semblance of normality was restored in a much more assured second half, with Lark Atkin-Davies, Kildunne and Helena Rowland all crossing, as England began to untangle themselves from their errors and Italy, after their industrious first-half performance, wilted.
Chalking up 25 points in 29 fruitful minutes, the Red Roses found their groove, helped in part by a valuable contribution from the bench. Scarratt was hauled off for Holly Aitchison, whose fast hands and incisive running made England much slicker and energetic in attack. She put the lively Rowland through a sailing gap for her side’s fifth, but just as it looked like England had rediscovered their mojo, they suffered further misfortune, with Rowland sent to the sin-bin for a no-arms tackle on Emanuela Stecca.
Even down to 13, England did not flounder. Carson added another, before Kildunne, who delivered an accomplished performance at full-back, added extra sheen to an otherwise unpolished performance. By the time Connie Powell peeled off a line-out maul to nab the visitors’ eighth and final score, the first half had been but a distant memory.
Match details
Scoring sequence: 0-5 Ward try, 0-10 Botterman try, 0-15 Atkin-Davies try, 0-20 Kildunne try, 0-22 Harrison con, 0-27 Rowland try, 0-29 Harrison con, 0-34 Carson try, 0-36 Harrison con, 0-41 Kidunne try, 0-46 Powell try, 0-48 Aitchison conversion.
Italy: V Ostuni Minuzzi; Aura Muzzo, M Sillari (E Stevanin 15), B Rigoni, A D’Inca; V Madia, S Stefan (F Granzotto 59); G Maris (E Stecca 59), S Turani (L Gurioli 59), S Seye (L Gai 74), V Fedrighi (A Frangipani 54), S Tounesi (G Duca 57), I Locatelli, F Sgorbini (A Pilani 57), G Cavina.
Booked: Stevanin
England: E Kildunne; A Dow, H Rowland, E Scarratt (H Aitchison 50), J Breach; Z Harrison (M Jones 61), L Packer (N Hunt 54); H Botterman (M Carson 50), L Atkin-Davies (C Powell 50), K Clifford (M Muir 50), Z Aldcroft, A Ward, S Kabeya (M Feaunati 59), M Packer (A Matthews 59), S Beckett.
Booked: Rowland
Sent off: Beckett
Referee: A Groizeleau
Attendance: 3,600
