England topped Italy 19-15 in falling snow at Stadio Olimpico on Sunday morning (NZT), gutsing out a second straight win from two matches in Six Nations rugby.
England rallied from a 15-6 deficit soon after halftime with its only try to Charlie Hodgson and more flawless kicking from Owen Farrell, who added his third and fourth penalties.
Two mistakes from England fullback Ben Foden conceded out-of-the-blue tries to Italy right before halftime, but after Kris Burton kicked Italy 15-6 ahead, his flyhalf replacement Tobias Botes missed two late kickable penalties.
"We are delighted to get the win," England coach Stuart Lancaster said. "We put ourselves in a position in the first 20, we started well. Then we had a mad five minutes and came in down at halftime. The most pleasing thing from that point of view was there was no sense of panic.
"We felt there were one or two areas to work on, particularly trying to move the ball, get the ball to the 10 early and get more intensity and tempo in the game. We were pleased to do that in the second half. I thought Italy played extremely well and put us under a lot of pressure. They were very difficult conditions to play in."
Before the match, there was real feeling that Italy could follow its stunning win over France in Rome last year with a first victory against England in 18 matches. Jacques Brunel was making his home debut as Italy coach and the team was playing for the first time at the sold-out Olimpico, in front of an expectant crowd of 72,000 braving a subzero wind chill.
Italy captain Sergio Parisse, named man of the match, admitted there was deep disappointment in the dressing room of missing a chance at history.
"It annoys me to lose to a poor England side," he said. "We had the chances today to beat England as it wasn't at its best. We had a big chance, but now we have to move on and prepare for the next two away matches.
"I'm convinced that we're on a good path and going forward."
Key prop Martin Castrogiovanni faced a race against time to be fit to play Ireland on February 25 after he broke a rib in the first half and was replaced. Italy conceded decisive scrum penalties in his absence.
Heavy snow had fallen in the Italian capital for the past week, with Rome experiencing its worst weather in nearly half a century. It finally stopped 90 minutes before the game but huge areas of the pitch were still covered in snow and ice.
There was little to entertain the freezing crowd for much of the first half as both teams struggled to break clear and opted to kick.
Farrell nailed his first penalty in the 26th minute, and the second when Castrogiovanni's replacement Lorenzo Cittadini gave away a penalty in the scrum.
Moments later, Italy shocked by scoring two tries in quick succession. First, an Italian grubberkick ricocheted off an England foot and Foden's chest and winger Giovanbattista Venditti was on hand to scoop up and score, then center Tommaso Benvenuti took advantage of another mistake by Foden. His pass was intercepted by Benvenuti, who raced from near halfway to score between the posts.
Burton converted the second - after hooking the first wide - and added a penalty at the start of the second half to extend Italy's advantage still further.
England reduced the deficit almost immediately when fullback Andrea Masi's kick was blocked by Hodgson, who gathered and touched down just as he did for the only try in the Scotland match. Farrell converted and kicked England 16-15 ahead in the 55th with another penalty.
Barritt almost scored another try on the hour for England but he was hauled down. Italy loosehead Andrea Lo Cicero brought down another scrum and there was little chance Farrell would miss the penalty from near the posts.
Botes had chances to cut the deficit, but his first penalty kick from close to halfway was woefully short, and his attempt in the 74th was well right, leaving Italy second again.
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England 19 (Charlie Hodgson try; Owen Farrell 4 penalties, conversion),
Italy 15 (Giovanbattista Venditti, Tommaso Benvenuti tries; Kris Burton conversion, penalty). HT: 6-12
AP