The deadline for applications to become the England head coach falls on Wednesday but Stuart Lancaster, who is doing the job on a temporary basis, does not believe his winning start has given him an advantage over his rivals.
Lancaster has applied for the permanent position but, after following up a seven-point opening weekend victory in Scotland with a narrower success in snowy Rome, England will play two of their remaining three matches at home, not that anyone is talking about the grand slam.
"We again showed a lot of pride and character," Chris Robshaw, the captain, said. "We did not panic when we conceded two tries through our own mistakes just before half-time. We regrouped, focused on what we needed to do and came out on the right side. We are in a good place: winning without playing well."
Wales lie in wait at the end of the month. They may have won only once at Twickenham since 1988, but their form in the World Cup and in Dublin last week put them at a level above England.
"I am not thinking about my job on a permanent basis," Lancaster said. "The focus this week was on beating Italy in what we knew would be a difficult game and now it switches to Wales.
"I thought we were in control against Italy only for a mad five minutes to put us back. The conditions made it tough with snow covering the pitch and I think it was an improvement on the previous week. That is what we are about, getting better each time, and when you consider we have only been together for three weeks, you can see we have come a long way."
England were outscored two to one on tries and their scorer, again, was the fly-half Charlie Hodgson who, as he had in Scotland, charged down a kick to get his try. "They are calling me Charge‑down Charlie," he said. "Not sure about that. This team is all about work ethic, and that means never giving up."
England's arrival at the Stadio Olimpico was different. "We had the usual police escort, but leading everything from our hotel was a snowplough," Robshaw said. "I was surprised they had not cleared the pitch, but it looked worse to play on than it turned out."
