The R number has fallen back below 1 and, finally, England’s stats are also looking a touch healthier. It remains too early to declare an invigorating red rose resurgence but at least here was a white-shirted team reminding themselves what it feels like to pass the ball to a sprinting teammate and experience the surge of adrenalin that comes with trying something beyond the numbingly basic.
If there is one proven vaccine above all others in Test rugby it is quick ball and against opponents less effective than Scotland at slowing down the hosts at source it duly inoculated England against any Calcutta Cup repetition. The dominant post-match emotion, even so, was sadness at the sight of the outstanding young Wasps flanker Jack Willis being wheeled off with a horrible-looking leg injury. This really can be a cruel game sometimes.
From a rugby perspective this was also not quite the holistic healing experience England might have hoped for. Not since 2008 have Italy scored as many points in this fixture and only the most one-eyed armchair fan will see this as conclusive proof of the rebirth of English rugby.
France stuck 50 points in Rome in round one; all England did, really, was stabilise a wobbling chariot sufficiently to make the trip down to Cardiff the week after next slightly less fraught.
The good news was that England’s wings have finally made it back on the scoresheet while the man of the match, Kyle Sinckler, and Luke Cowan-Dickie added much needed turbo thrust in the loose.
Across the Severn Bridge, even so, their neighbours will look at England’s opening two games and conclude a few of their next opponents’ bigger names are still well short of their best.
As England’s captain a large part of Owen Farrell’s role is to set the tone for his team but, for whatever reason, he is finding it hard to locate much in the way of playing rhythm. Last week he endured a grim game at 10 and seven days later he enjoyed little more joy at 12. Eleven points with the boot could not mask another moderate afternoon that did little to banish the suspicion that a lack of club minutes for Saracens is leaving him to play catch-up in this Six Nations.
It was not just the two rat-a-tat second-half knock-ons that betrayed his lack of recent game time. A clattering head-on-head collision on Stephen Varney before Anthony Watson’s second try was not penalised, but it was another of those upright challenges Farrell is meant to be trying to eliminate from his game.
And when he does get frustrated it is all too evident: rushing in from 10 metres away to get involved in a minor forward scuffle is seldom the behaviour of a cool, calm and collected captain.
None of it mattered hugely. Farrell’s backfield coverage and kicking accuracy were valuable and with himself and George Ford back in harness there is more in the way of midfield variety.
Not for the first time, however, England continue to leave us all wanting more, even if it was lovely to see Watson running free again and watch Jonny May fly high like the pole vaulter he once was. Dan Robson’s scything quick tap was another bright spot but the inaccuracy of some of England’s passing still hinted at a slight hangover from the Calcutta Cup.
Elliot Daly threw his first piece of attacking ball forward and into touch and Ben Youngs also chucked a potentially killer inside ball forward. Against better opposition it might have been more costly and, frankly, there was not much excuse weather wise. Yes, it was cold enough overnight to have frozen some of the stadium toilets but in the first 40 minutes the sun was out and it was as satisfyingly crisp and dry as a chilled frascati.
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Maybe another couple of weeks training together will help and the Saracens contingent are too talented not to have a greater impact once they have slightly more rugby in their legs.
As the evening chill descended, the cold hard truth was unchanged: England’s leading men still have much to do if they are to become Six Nations champions once again.