Ashton never feared another England meltdown

By Paul Virgo

ROME (Reuters) - Brian Ashton never feared England would repeat last week's collapse against Wales after scraping past Italy 23-19 on Sunday after another dismal second-half performance, the coach said.

"At no stage did I think Jesus Christ, we're going to throw this away," Ashton told reporters following the win that revives the World Cup runners-up's Six Nations campaign after the 26-19 opening day defeat.

"We folded last week. I don't think we did this week. We didn't have the best of second halves. But at least we finished on the Italian line, not on our own line, like we did last week."

Ashton praised the Azzurri pack for putting the hosts back in the game after being 20-6 down at the break.

"The Italian forwards stepped up their game after halftime and they had to," Ashton said. "What we couldn't do was establish any field position and that is something we must look at.

"Make no mistake about it, Italy is not an easy place to come and play rugby. They gave Ireland a run for their money last week at Croke Park. I am quite happy to go away with a win."

Ashton blamed injuries and illness for upsetting his preparations.

Captain Phil Vickery went down with a stomach bug on Sunday morning after Ashton had already lost five players to injury.