Five things we learned about England this weekend

1) England are better off bypassing the centres England have been criticised for employing a centre pairing that is not known for its pace or natural footballing ability, but it has not mattered because their approach to back play is far from conventional. Toby Flood passed to Shontayne Hape only four times in the match. His main outlet was Mark Cueto – every occasion England received the ball from a restart, Flood would go in left and float a long pass to Cueto who would come into the midfield from the left at pace. Flood played at inside-centre more than Hape in broken play, England using forwards, such as Nick Easter or Dan Cole, to take up the ball so that when Flood received it he was not crowded out and had space for his back three to exploit. Hape, like Mike Tindall strong in defence, was used to clear out rucks and the numbers on the jerseys of the outside backs meant little. England used their quickest players to hit holes with Matt Banahan as effective as Cueto. Flood made 39 passes, 11 to Cueto, six to the other two wings and only seven to his centres. 2) Dominant lineout display set the platform England may have enjoyed their biggest romp in the Six Nations since the Clive Woodward era, but the foundation was laid up front. There may not have been enough scrums for Italy to test out the debutant prop Alex Corbisiero, but it was at the lineout where the origins of their ruin lay. Italy had 15 lineouts and only won seven of them, particularly vulnerable at the tail where England waited in anticipation. Italy were not only denied a foundation and a means to play the game at a slower pace, their try came from a driving maul following a rare clean take when the contest was over, but England exploited every opportunity to counterattack and keep the tempo high. In contrast, England won all 12 of their own throws with Dylan Hartley continuing to prove that the Wales coach, Warren Gatland, was talking about the past last month when he questioned the temperament of the England hooker. 3) Ashton is the master of positioning Chris Ashton has scored six tries in England's opening two Six Nations matches but he has only been positioned on the right wing for one of them, his second against Wales. On Saturday he again showed his ability to track play, exemplified by his final try. He was standing on his wing when England stole an Italy lineout in their own 22 and as Matt Banahan broke through the midfield, Ashton made a diagonal run, pointing to his fellow wing to kick ahead but in position to take the try-scoring pass. He made a tracking run for his third try, again supporting Banahan in midfield, and his first showed how England have evolved their game. It was only the second minute of the game and they were near their own 22, but Ashton was in the centre of the field with Mike Tindall on the wing, providing pace when and where it was needed. 4) The old gameplan has been kicked into touch When did an England outside-half last kick the ball out of hand only once during a Six Nations international? Notions that England personify the stern character of Martin Johnson have been shattered this season: they have organisation and structure, of course, but their game is based on possession, not territory. Toby Flood's one kick in open play came in the 27th minute and when Jonny Wilkinson replaced the Leicester pivot 15 minutes into the second half, he too ran and passed from deep rather than resorting to his left boot. In total, England passed the ball on 222 occasions and only kicked it 15 times. England were comfortable in possession, as they were against Wales, but they will not get as many opportunities against France in the next round when they are sure to test what is a suspect defence around the fringes. 5) Johnson's team are still a work in progress Martin Johnson said afterwards that England still had areas to work on and one statistic from Saturday that will not impress him is the breakdown where England were turned over five times. It mattered little against Italy, but as France showed against Scotland, they are dangerous when they have turned over possession. England's tendency to use a forward at first receiver sometimes left them undermanned after a tackle and, as in the opening round, they were prepared to concede penalties for killing the ball, but they have a new combination in the back row and made a number of substitutions early in the second half with the game won to give the likes of Hendre Fourie more international experience. What will have pleased Johnson was the contribution of the props Dan Cole and Alex Corbisiero in the loose.