England topped Italy 19-15 in falling snow at Stadio Olimpico on Saturday, grinding out a second straight win from two matches in Six Nations rugby.

England rallied from a 15-6 deficit soon after halftime with its only try from Charlie Hodgson and more flawless kicking from Owen Farrell, who added his third and fourth penalties.

Two mistakes from England fullback Ben Foden conceded out-of-the-blue tries to Italy right before halftime, but after Kris Burton kicked Italy 15-6 ahead, his flyhalf replacement, Tobias Botes, missed two late kickable penalties.

“We are delighted to get the win,” said England coach Stuart Lancaster. “We put ourselves in a position in the first 20, we started well. Then we had a mad five minutes and came in down at halftime. The most pleasing thing from that point of view was there was no sense of panic.”

Before the match, there was a real feeling that Italy could follow its stunning win over France in Rome last year with a first victory against England in 18 matches.

Jacques Brunel was making his home debut as Italy coach and the team was playing for the first time at the sold-out Olimpico, in front of a crowd of 72,000 braving a subzero wind chill.

Italy captain Sergio Parisse, named man of the match, admitted there was deep disappointment in the dressing room at missing a chance at history.

“It annoys me to lose to a poor England side,” he said. “We had the chances today to beat England as it wasn’t at its best.”

Key prop Martin Castrogiovanni will face a race against time to be fit to play Ireland on Feb. 25 after he broke a rib in the first half. Italy conceded decisive scrum penalties in his absence.

Heavy snow has fallen in the Italian capital for the past week, with Rome experiencing its worst weather in nearly half a century. It finally stopped 90 minutes before the game but huge areas of the pitch were still covered in snow and ice.

Elsewhere, the referee’s decision to postpone France’s match against Ireland angered the French Rugby Federation president, Pierre Camou. Two hours after declaring the Stade de France field fit for play, referee Dave Pearson postponed the match moments before the 9 p.m. kickoff, when the temperature was minus 5 Celsius.

“I feel totally saddened, to say the least, for all of those who have made the journey,” Camou said.

Ireland coach Declan Kidney and French coach Philippe Saint-Andre, however, agreed with postponing the match.