By BBC (Sports) | Created at 2024-11-24 18:19:07 | Updated at 2024-11-24 20:34:11
2 hours ago
England (35) 59
Tries: Earl, Underhill, George 2, Sleightholme, Furbank, Cowan-Dickie 2, Roebuck Cons: M Smith 7
Japan (7) 14
Tries: Saito, Himeno Cons: Saito, Matsunaga
England ended their five-match losing run with a nine-try hammering of Eddie Jones' Japan at Twickenham's Allianz Stadium.
The victory marked a first and only win of a difficult Autumn Nation Series campaign for Steve Borthwick's side after close defeats by New Zealand, Australia and South Africa.
Captain Jamie George scored twice in a clinical opening period, which saw Ben Earl, Sam Underhill and Ollie Sleightholme also grab tries.
The Brave Blossoms managed one eye-catching score in the first half through captain Naoto Saito.
Full-back George Furbank gathered Tommy Freeman's sublime behind-the-back pass to score England's sixth try in the second half, before replacement hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie burrowed over the line for the first of his two tries.
Flanker Kazuki Himeno's try gave Jones' side a deserved second-half score, but the hosts finished the strongest with Tom Roebuck adding to Cowan-Dickie's score for his first international try.
It was Borthwick's side's first win since June when they comfortably beat Japan 52-17 in Tokyo.
Former England head coach Jones, who was sacked by the Rugby Football Union in 2022 and later replaced by Borthwick, kept a low profile in the build-up to his return, having been in charge during England's joint-worst run since 2018 of five straight defeats.
His successor ends the year with five wins from 12 games as Borthwick continues to navigate a tough transition period following a third-placed finish at last year's Rugby World Cup.
At least one statement scalp would have been expected after signs of progress in this year's Six Nations and during the summer Tests against New Zealand, meaning a sole win over Japan to end a dreadful run will instead go down as an autumn to forget.
Despite three intense fixtures on the bounce, Borthwick opted against wholesale changes as he offered his regulars a chance to finish the autumn on a high.
The final quarter of matches has proved to be England's sticking point in recent games, with late leads blown against New Zealand and Australia.
What has remained a strength is their ability to start fast and that continued when Marcus Smith sent Ollie Lawrence through a hole and the Bath centre found Earl who ran under the posts for the opening score.
Flanker Underhill then showed his power for the second week in a row close to the try-line to extend the lead, before captain George dotted down twice from rampaging mauls.
That ability to close out a tight Test match was never likely to be challenged by the Brave Blossoms, who despite improvement under Jones, were heavily defeated by New Zealand and France this autumn.
However, Japan's high-paced attacking style finally clicked as Saito got on the end of Dylan Riley's break after some slick handling from inside their own half.
But the hosts were able to respond through an equally impressive flowing move when Will Stuart's initial break led to Sleightholme's sharp finish in the corner, as the Northampton Saints wing showed his instinctive finishing ability by regathering his own grubber kick for a fourth autumn try.
More to follow.
England: Furbank; Freeman, Lawrence, Slade, Sleightholme; M Smith, Van Poortvliet; Genge, George (capt), Stuart, Itoje, Martin, T Curry, Underhill, Earl.
Replacements: Cowan-Dickie, Baxter, Opoku-Fordjour, Isiekwe, Cunningham-South, Randall, F Smith, Roebuck.
Japan: Matsunaga; Osada, Riley, Fifita, Naikabula; McCurran, Saito; Okabe, Lee, Takeuchi, Waqa, Uluiviti, Shimokawa, Himeno, Makisi.
Replacements: Matsuoka, Morikawa, Tamefusa, Akiyama, Tatafu, Gunter, Fujiwara, Kajimura.
Referee: Craig Evans (Wales)
Assistant Referee 1: Andrea Piardi (Italy)
Assistant Referee 2: Morne Ferreira (South Africa)
TMO: Olly Hodges (Ireland)
