Winning is all that counts – Cueto

The Sale winger was not hiding from the fact that England must improve markedly if they are to beat Ireland at Twickenham on Saturday week.

Cueto stressed that however critical the post-mortem of the 17-12 victory, the bottom line is that England remain one of two unbeaten teams in the championship.

Cueto said: "You are in a no-win situation against Italy. If you win like we did here everyone is booing as you come off and expects you to win by more. If you win by more everyone says 'no disrespect, but it is only Italy'.

"We have won the game, we are two from two which is where we want to be.

"We are frustrated with how the game went. You can't disrespect the Italians. We knew exactly what they were going to do and, unfortunately, we allowed them to do it, in a way.

"They are niggly, they frustrate you and they make it difficult to play. But the bottom line is we got a win."

On current form, there would appear to be a gulf in class between France, who demolished Ireland in Paris, and an England side that was booed from the field at the Stadio Flaminio.

England were saved by Jonny Wilkinson's drop-goal after the Azzurri had rallied from 14-6 down to close within two points.

England showed in flashes how dangerous an attacking force they could be and Mathew Tait's try early in the second half was well-crafted by Ugo Monye and Delon Armitage.

But England blew at least two other opportunities and, as Cueto alluded to, they spent far too long engaged in an aimless kicking contest.