And despite having Tom Price and Matt Kvesic sent to the sin-bin late on, England were too strong for Italy to wrack up their third straight win from this year’s competition.

Ireland have also won all three of their games and all the signs point to a deciding Grand Slam clash between the two on March 16 at Adams Park.

And while Hunter insists his side are far from the finished article, he is urging his troops to appreciate what they have done up to this point.

“We’re delighted to get the win” he said. “Every time we play Italy it’s a real fight and a scrap, and this was no different.

“We had two players sent to the sin-bin which didn’t help but we kept going and scored some good tries.

“It was a good performance, but not great, we’ve got plenty to work on – but we have to remember to enjoy our wins, we’ve scored six tries and got ourselves another Test win away from home.

“We’ve also got some new caps in the side – Ben Nutley and Nathan Morris – and we have a lot of strength in depth, so there are plenty of positives to take.”