England vs Japan LIVE rugby: Result and reaction as impressive England notch big win to finish autumn
England 59-14 Japan: England run in nine tries to finish a frustrating Autumn Nations Series on a high against former boss Eddie Jones
After a difficult November, England finished with a flourish with a 59-14 thrashing of an overmatched Japan and former coach Eddie Jones.
Defeat to South Africa last weekend was a fifth defeat on the spin for Steve Borthwick’s side, and there was little room for experimentation in a first-choice line-up named to end the Autumn Nations Series. But that strong side rewarded their head coach’s faith with an impressive performance, notching a second victory of the year over their opponents to end on a high after ruing several weeks of missed opportunities.
England’s nine tries featured four scored by hookers as Luke Cowan-Dickie matched captain Jamie George’s tally off the bench, while Marcus Smith orchestrated impressively again from fly half. Ben Earl, Sam Underhill, Ollie Sleightholme, George Furbank and Tom Roebuck also dotted down to give the home fans a long-awaited success.
Relive all the action from Allianz Stadium, Twickenham in our live blog below:
REPORT: Impressive England put Japan to the sword but frustrating autumn ends with another missed opportunity
After a November of frets and frustration came a chance for fun and frolics for England. Few questions may have been answered about this England team in this Twickenham thrashing, but at least we know that Steve Borthwick’s side can beat Japan; a 59-14 slaying of their visitors ended a run of five successive defeats since they last put their callow opponents to the sword in June.
There were no need for any final-quarter quivers or quibbles after the sort of ruthless, rollicking performance that Steve Borthwick would have demanded. The England head coach had ventured nothing in the search of longer-term gain, naming a first-choice side and tasking them with releasing their autumn angst and anger on an overmatched Japan. They duly obliged, piling points and pain on Eddie Jones, a polarising preacher unable to cause further upset in his past parish.
Read Harry Latham-Coyle’s full report from Allianz Stadium, Twickenham:
England put Japan to the sword but frustrating year ends with another missed chance
England 59-14 Japan: A full-strength England ran in nine tries to end a difficult November with a much-needed win
Steve Borthwick on England’s win
“We will look in detail in a full debrief of what we need to do to move forward. There are things at the ends of games where we haven’t quite converted. What we also need to be clear on is how this team wants to play. This is a team that has developed in terms of athleticism and skillset. We want to make sure that we reflect on all the good things that have been done.
“I spent a couple of hours with Eddie yesterday. I think he is a fantastic coach that we all have enormous respect for.
“The players have worked exceptionally hard at developing our game. What is really important at international rugby is cohesion and relationships. We saw more of that today. The attitude the players have is an attitude to play fast and want to get the ball to the edges. That is a big step forward in how we want to play.”
Steve Borthwick speaks after England’s win
“I am really pleased with the way the players approached the game. They kept really disciplined to play the way we wanted to play for 80 minutes. You can see the identity of the team we are trying to build. Over the last four weeks, we have scored some outstanding tries with the skill level within the group.
“As you reflect on it, the overriding feeling will be one of frustration. To have come so close to getting results but not converting them in the first three weeks, that will be one emotion. But there is real positivity about some aspects. I want the team to be brave and play fast, and we have seen growth in that.”
Eddie Jones on returning to Twickenham
“It wasn’t bad until some clown abused me going down at half time. But if there is only one clown in 82,000, it’s not too bad. I’m disappointed with the result but it is always good to come to the Home of Rugby. He said something, butI’m not going to repeat what he said because I’ll get in trouble.
On Danny Care’s allegations, Jones says: “I’ll tell you mate, I’ve got a new book deal coming out. It’s called “Caring about Care”. I’m trying to do a deal with the Daily Mail but I haven’t come to an agreement yet. It’ll be a good one. If you want to read about it, it’ll be in my book. I’ll put a whole chapter about caring about Care, just for you.”
On England’s progress under Steve Borthwick: “It’s one of those difficult periods where a team is obviously going through transition. Chandler Cunningham-South looks a prospect. Ollie Lawrence is getting some consistency in his play. You always get that sticky period where in the big games it doesn’t quite work, you get beaten by a point or two points or a penalty. Today, they gave a lesson in pressure rugby. We got suffocated today. They played really well. Knowing Steve fairly well, that’s how he wants to play. It’ll take time but I think they are going in the right direction. They put in a good display of rugby today.”
Eddie Jones on Japan’s defeat
“When you have got 200 caps [in your side], it means most of the players have played ten Tests or less. When something doesn’t go right, they can’t adapt to it. You only learn by doing it. I look at Marcus [Smith] today and now he is so competent in his decision-making. That’s what you get from 40 Tests. We’ve got to be patient and stick to the process. We want to play differently and want to play faster, and that puts pressure on your skills. There is no magic solution here.”
Eddie Jones reacts to Japan’s defeat
“They are a really young team and we’ve got to accept this is part of the process. I don’t think there is anything we’ve massively improved in or anything we’ve massively gone down in. I’m pleased for Steve [Borthwick] that he won’t have the press hounding him - for seven days at least.
“We didn’t want to get into a box kick contest with England, because they would squeeze us. We didn’t execute as well as we would have liked but the idea was right.”
Marcus Smith urges England to take ‘learnings’ despite Japan victory
“Taking learnings” has been the repeated phrase this autumn - ad nauseam from the England camp as they’ve fully embraced this Borthwick-ism. Even after today’s win there’s no escape, with Marcus Smith urging the team to do so once again.
Smith, speaking to TNT Sports, said: “There are a lot of learnings to take, but it is always good to finish with a win. The autumn did not go the way we wanted but we have taken a lot of learnings in closing games out. Hopefully in the Six Nations we get to carry it on.
“It takes time, there will be pain for a bit, we have stuck together as a group with some experienced boys leading us and hopefully we take it on into the Six Nations.
“The biggest learning is how to close out games, be more ruthless, don’t go into our shells and finish teams off when they are there for the taking. Those small moments in the big games matter and we have to learn quick.”
Ollie Sleightholme reflects on big England win
Winger Ollie Sleightholme was named man of the match after an impressive display and he has given his reaction to the win.
Sleightholme, speaking to TNT Sports, said: “The results have not gone our way, but this week we got our foot down and righted those wrongs from the other weeks.
“We tried to stay positive, there was a lot of good stuff to take from these performances.”
FULL-TIME! England 59-14 Japan
Let’s be frank, this performance doesn’t erase what has been a very frustrating autumn for England but they played some really nice stuff to spectacularly dispatch Japan. There was no happy return to Twickenham for ex-boss Eddie Jones.
Nine tries for England, including a lovely first international score for Tom Roebuck
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