England’s rugby team delivered a commanding performance against Japan, securing a 52-17 victory.
Tries from Chandler Cunningham-South, Marcus Smith, Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, and Henry Slade gave England a commanding 26-3 lead at halftime.
Further scores from Alex Mitchell, Ben Earl, Harry Randall, and Sam Underhill sealed the victory over the Brave Blossoms.
Japan’s Seungsin Lee kicked a penalty after 90 seconds before Cunningham-South drove over to score England’s opening try. England was attacking in the Japan 22, and Ben Earl tipped the ball onto Cunningham-South, who used his strength and power to score on his first start, with Smith converting.
England’s next try came through a set-piece move when captain Jamie George threw to the back of the line-out, which Ollie Lawrence collected. Lawrence passed to Mitchell, who put Smith through a gap in the Japanese defense. He weaved his way to the try line and converted to extend the lead.
Feyi-Waboso crossed in the corner for their third try. Bevan Rodd took a quick penalty on the 5m line, and after bruising runs from England forwards, Smith found Feyi-Waboso on the wing. Smith’s conversion made it 3-21.
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Japan had a Tiennan Costley try disallowed after the ball was judged to have gone forward in the lead-up before England scored their fourth on the stroke of halftime through a clever cross-field kick from Smith, gathered by Slade to give England a 26-3 lead. England struck first after halftime. Mitchell threw a dummy in the 22 to fool the Japanese defense and dot down behind the posts. Smith added the extras to extend England’s lead.
Mitchell then put Earl over the whitewash to bring England’s total to 38-3 before Smith was shown a yellow card for an illegal tackle on Yoshitaka Yazaki.
Replacement Randall then darted over from close range, which Slade converted, and winger Tom Roebuck joined the fray to earn his first Test cap.
Japan scored two tries in quick succession. Their first came after a break from Kai Yamamoto. A long pass from Warner Dearns found Koga Nezuka, who dotted down in the corner. Rikiya Matsuda added the conversion.
Then, Dearns juggled the ball on the halfway line and put Takuya Yamasawa under the posts. Matsuda converted to bring the score to 17-45.
Charlie Ewels was sent to the sin bin for an illegal clear-out, which was later upgraded to a red card.
England’s eighth try came after their maul powered over the try line, with Underhill the man to get his name on the score sheet. Slade’s conversion brought up the half-century for England to complete the scoring.
Steve Borthwick’s side next faces New Zealand in Dunedin in the opening fixture of their two-Test series against the All Blacks.
