Brown concern as England march on
England maintained their impressive start to the 2015 Six Nations campaign, with a commanding 47-17 win over a hapless Italian side at Twickenham on Saturday.
However, the biggest post-match focus will not be on the quality of England's play, but rather the nasty head knock that resulted in fullback Mike Brown leaving the field on a motorised stretcher early in the first half.
Brown became the sport's latest concussion victim, as he was knocked cold.
Given the focus and emphasis of proper treatment of these type of injuries, there must be doubt about his participation ion the next round of the championship in a fortnight's time.
As for the game itself, it was all a walk in the park for an impressive England side, which comfortably dealt with the early pressure applied by an Italian side that was as willing as always, but also very limited in terms of talent and skills.
Centre Jonathan Joseph grabbed a brace of tries for England in their second win in the Six Nations Championship.
No.8 Billy Vunipola, scrumhalf Ben Youngs and replacements Danny Cipriani and Nick Easter also went over for England, who again fell behind in a game before rallying and then surging clear.
"It's going great. It's great to get the win today. The boys showed great spirit to come back and get the win," Joseph, who ended up on the wing after Brown went off, said.
England eventually ran out easy winners with a strong second half display against a tiring Italian side, which had been beaten 26-3 by the Irish in Rome the week before.
The visitors had not scored a Test try for 254 minutes. Yet they stunned England after just three minutes as the powerful Parisse, who grabbed the previous one against Samoa in November, bull-dozed his way over.
"It was a soft try we conceded first up. At half-time we give them a rev up, said we needed to up the intensity, and I think we did that in the second half," said England coach Stuart Lancaster.
"Slightly disappointed that we didn't do a bit better but I'm really pleased for Jonathan Joseph. He's having a great season so far and I'm delighted for him."
England lost Brown with concussion in a painful collision as the Harlequins man attempted to intercept flyhalf Kelly Haimona's chip through as Italy went back on the attack.
But, as he went to catch the ball, Masi got to it first and the Italian's right shoulder clattered into the side of Brown's head.
Brown was left flat out on the grass unmoving and with blood dripping from his nose.
George Ford's boot put the hosts on the scoreboard and England managed to put their noses in front with a slightly controversial try from Vunipola.
It appeared the Saracens forward had been forced into touch in the left-hand corner by desperate late Italian tackling from captain Parisse and scrumhalf Edoardo Gori.
Vunipola surged forward and, after watching a series of replays, referee John Lacey awarded the try even though it seemed inconclusive.
England's next attack saw the impressive Joseph show off his pace and skill to burst through a hole in the Italian defence and the Bath youngster crossed the visitors' line for Ford to convert.
Ford kicked another penalty at the start of the second-half but Morisi showed a fine turn of speed to defy tacklers before scrambling across the England line for his side's second try.
The England response was swift with scrumhalf Youngs darting over from the back of a scrum.
England were dominant as first Joseph raced through a large Italian hole for his second. Cipriani came off the bench to replace Ford and with his first touch in a Test since 2008, the Sale Sharks fly-half took Jonny May's pass to stroll across the line for a try. A dream international return.
Nick Easter went over next as the 36-year-old became the oldest player to score a try for England. He sunk to the bottom of an England rolling maul which pushed Italy back over their line.
Morisi dived over in the corner for his second and Italy's third try but it was too late for a revival from the visitors.
Man of the match: Sergio Parisse had a bright start, but lost his sparkle as the lead stretched out after the break. Jonathan Joseph continued his sparkling form in midfield, but our award foes to England No.8 Billy Vunipola, who got England on the front foot and was central to turning around the game after Italy's early dominance.
Moment of the match: There were several delightful tries, all worthy of consideration. However, the biggest concern will be over England fullback Mike Brown's heavy head-knock - which saw him being taken off the field on a motorised stretcher, after a lengthy period of treatment on the field.
Villain of the match: Maybe the time has come for Italian veteran Martin Castrogiovanni to consider retirement. He can no longer dominate scrums and it has been a while since he contributed anywhere outside the set pieces.
For England:
Tries: B Vunipola, Joseph 2, B Youngs, Cipriani, Easter
Cons: Ford 3, Cipriani
Pens: Ford 3
For Italy:
Tries: Parisse, Morisi 2
Con: Allan
Teams:
England: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Anthony Watson, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Luther Burrell, 11 Jonny May, 10 George Ford, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Chris Robshaw (captain), 6 James Haskell, 5 George Kruis, 4 Dave Attwood, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley, 1 Joe Marler.
Replacements: 16 Tom Youngs, 17 Mako Vunipola, 18 Kieran Brookes, 19 Tom Croft, 20 Nick Easter, 21 Richard Wigglesworth, 22 Danny Cipriani, 23 Billy Twelvetrees.
Italy: 15 Luke Mclean, 14 Leonardo Sarto, 13 Luca Morisi, 12 Andrea Masi, 11 Giovambattista Venditti, 10 Kelly Haimona, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Sergio Parisse (captain), 7 Mauro Bergamasco, 6 Francesco Minto, 5 Marco Bortolami, 4 George Fabio Biagi, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Alberto De Marchi.
Replacements: 16 Andrea Manici, 17 Matias Aguero, 18 Dario Chistolini, 19 Joshua Furno, 20 Samuela Vunisa, 21 Guglielmo Palazzani, 22 Tommaso Allan, 23 Giulio Bisegni.
Referee: Johnny Lacey (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Pascal Gauzère (France), Mike Fraser (New Zealand)
TMO: George Ayoub (Australia)