"We felt there were one or two areas that we needed to work on, in particular getting balls in the No 10's hands early and getting more tempo into the game.
"I'm pleased we managed to do that and in the second half I'm delighted with the impact our substitutes made.
Italy dominated the first half against a disjointed England, even though the visitors more or less gifted their hosts two late tries and a 12-6 half-time lead.
But the introduction of halfback Lee Dickson and No 8 Ben Morgan with just under half an hour left helped turn the game around. Owen Farrell was also immaculate with his place kicking.
"Italy missed a couple [of kicks], but from our point of view we felt that Owen was fantastic in terms of temperament and the ability to step up and get those kicks to keep our scoreboard ticking over," said the coach.
"Even though the conditions were difficult we had to be brave to be able to play. Both Dickson and Morgan made a fantastic impact and gave us our best period of the game.
"We've got some players who put their hands up and that's part of what we'll be considering as well as how they contribute and how they train.
"But Manu Tuilagi and Courtney Lawes played this weekend [for their clubs] as well. They're good internationals and are playing for [a place]."
Charlie Hodgson helped turn the game around by charging down an Andrea Masi clearing kick on 51 minutes before picking up the loose ball to score a try - in identical fashion to the one he got against Scotland the week before.
And forwards coach Andy Farrell, a former England international and Owen's father, said even that is something the team works on.
"Of course we work on it. We spend hours and hours at the beginning of each week looking at kicking techniques," he said.
"We're constantly trying to put pressure on every time someone's kicking, whether it's the 9 or 10.
"We work on that extra detail and fight to put the opposition under pressure and sometimes we come out with rewards."
- AAP
