Brad Barritt was dreadful but Ben Morgan and Geoff Parling were pitch perfect

For me, relief was the overriding emotion. I was watching from the replacements' bench, having been taken off after an hour. Nervously, I was counting down the seconds hoping that we could hold out.

After the game it was obvious that our defence won it for us but it wasn't until the coaches' review on Tuesday that I realised just how unbelievably well we had defended.

Here are some statistics from the game:
* We were defending for 27 minutes and 50 seconds;
* We made 238 tackles;
* We conceded three defensive penalties;
* They scored six points.

To have so little possession, make so many tackles and only give away two kickable penalties and six points is unheard of.

We realise there are lots of areas we need to significantly improve, namely our attack, but the will to win and the desire to work hard for each other was phenomenal.

After each international, there is always a dinner for both sides, committee men and guests of the home team. There are speeches from both captains and presidents and any players who made their debut are presented with their cap which has to be worn for the rest of the evening.

Following the post-match dinner we got on the bus to go to the airport and return to England. It is tradition among the team that all the new caps have to sing a song at the front of the bus as a form of initiation. First up was Brad Barritt, who tunelessly sang his school song and was rightly heckled. Phil Dowson and Lee Dickson did solid but unspectacular impressions of Simon and Garfunkel and Oasis but the stars of the show were Ben Morgan and Geoff Parling.

Ben shocked everybody by reciting word perfectly Eminem's rap from the battle scene in the film 8 Mile, while Geoff's rendition of I love You Baby was so good that everyone joined in. Unfortunately, the journey to the airport didn't allow enough time for all the debutantes to sing but that doesn't mean they have got away with it!

Tomorrow afternoon we will run out at the Stadio Olimpico to face Italy. While England have never lost to them, in recent years the games in Rome have been close affairs.

Despite losing in Paris last week the Italians played well and will be very motivated to perform in front of a sell-out crowd. They are a big side who will challenge us at the set-piece and at the breakdown. Their key man is their No8, Sergio Parisse. I know him well as we play together at Stade Francais in Paris.

He combines skill and athleticism, with a very high work rate. In order to win we will need to put them under pressure, with both our attack and defence. If we can do that, we will be able to maintain our perfect record against the Italians and no one on the bus will be singing the blues.

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