MARTIN Johnson warned England cannot afford to let their standards slip as they begin preparations to face Italy on the back of a landmark victory over Wales.

England rose to the occasion in a raucous Millennium Stadium atmosphere to launch their RBS 6 Nations title challenge with a first win in Cardiff since 2003.

With Italy, Scotland and France all due at Twickenham before England round off the championship in Ireland, there is even talk of a potential Grand Slam.

The public expectation will certainly be for a routine home win against the Azzurri.

But a re-run of Ireland’s narrow escape against Italy should be enough to reinforce the message that England cannot ease off.

Ireland were not at their best and only escaped Rome with a 13-11 victory courtesy of a 78th-minute Ronan O’- Gara drop-goal.

‘‘Wales was a big emotional game with lots of build-up, a lot said and it was a great occasion.

We have to perform whatever the build-up,’’ Johnson said.

‘‘We have to set our standards higher and be better than we were this week.

‘‘We have to handle this well and turn up next week and produce with the same amount of energy and tempo and improve our execution.

‘‘The expectation with Italy is always a little bit wrong.

‘‘They are very awkward and tough. They keep the ball away from you, they don’t concede a lot of points and they are a pretty good team.

‘‘It is important we get the mindset right. Until you play the next one, this is your toughest game.’’ Johnson issued a similar rallying cry in the autumn, when England faced Samoa a week after completing a record 35-18 home victory over Australia.

England found themselves having to come from behind to beat the Pacific islanders and afterwards Toby Flood described the scratchy performance as ‘‘a wake-up call’’.

Johnson is confident his squad can learn from that experience and keep developing, something they have done so well over the last 12 months.

‘‘This time last year we would certainly have had more of a chance of losing that Wales game,’’ Johnson admitted.

‘‘You don’t get better by patting yourselves on the back too much. The players are in a place when they want to be hard on themselves.’’ That attitude was fostered after England’s dire performance against the Italians in Rome last year. It was a watershed.

Flood, Ben Youngs, Ben Foden, Chris Ashton and Tom Palmer have all come into the team since and are now key figures in a squad with burgeoning potential.

‘‘In the last Six Nations we painted over a few cracks, rather than address the problems,’’ said number eight Nick Easter.

‘‘We beat Wales convincingly at home, won in Italy and thought we were there. We didn’t win a game after that.

We realised we weren’t really on the right track in certain aspects, and one of those was the honesty calls.

‘‘It’s a big shift of approach but that’s what you must do.

You have to be brutally honest.

‘‘If you want to be the best in the world – and nobody’s hiding from the fact that we do – we’re going to have to iron out our problems.’’ Johnson will not make unnecessary changes to face the Italians but he could have Hendre Fourie available after the Leeds flanker returned from a calf injury.

If Fourie returned, one of James Haskell or the impressive debutant Tom Wood would have to be sacrificed from the back row.

Where there is no debate any longer is at fly-half. Flood was named man of the match in Cardiff and grows in authority with every Test.

Jonny Wilkinson’s England days look set to be served out on the bench.

‘‘Flood has now had eight starts on the trot. In the autumn he was fantastic. You have seen his maturity,’’ Johnson said.

‘‘At Leicester he is going to play big games, championship finals, big European games.

‘‘It doesn’t always happen for players but if they are bright enough and hard working enough to make the most of their experiences they get better and better.’’