Japan vs England LIVE rugby: Result and reaction as Marcus Smith ...
Japan 17-52 England: Marcus Smith and Henry Slade pulled the strings as the visitors ran in eight tries
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England kicked off their summer tour with an eight-try thrashing of Japan in Tokyo as they tuned up for two Tests against the All Blacks.
Steve Borthwick’s side head south for a two-Test tour of New Zealand at the start of July, and the England head coach will have been pleased with how his side accelerated away after a sticky start on a hot and humid afternoon. After holding firm defensively despite a fast Japanese start, Marcus Smith and Henry Slade pulled the strings nicely at the Japan National Stadium as England showed off their attacking array to take control of the contest.
Four first-half tries were followed by scores after interval from Alex Mitchell, Ben Earl, Harry Randall and Sam Underhill, though England’s win was somewhat marred by the sending off of Charlie Ewels late on. The lock was making his first international appearance since being red carded at Twickenham against Ireland during the 2022 Six Nations but flew in dangerously on Japan captain Michael Leitch at a ruck to potentially end his tour.
The Ewels incident came amid Japan’s brightest spell as lock Warner Dearns created two excellent tries, but it is England who emerged as sizeable winners to take confidence into their first clash with the All Blacks in a fortnight.
Re-live all of the action from the Japan National Stadium in Tokyo below:
Japan were overwhelmed 52-17 in their first match since Jones was placed back in charge, with England amassing eight tries until the strike rate dried up in the face of a final-quarter surge from the hosts.
A pleasing performance saw Steve Borthwick’s men pick-up where they left off in the Six Nations by playing smart and ambitious rugby that was well executed, particularly close to the whitewash.
Smith was at the heart of the enterprise shown, justifying his selection ahead of Fin Smith by orchestrating play intelligently until he was replaced having been shown a yellow card in the 55th minute.
Harry Latham-Coyle22 June 2024 10:17
“It was a pretty tough game for us today. England are a strong, powerful team, but I was really pleased with our set piece work. We’ve been working on little things in our attack which created opportunities, but we weren’t able to finish them.
“We wanted to move the ball quickly, and to do that starts with our set piece where we showed some improvement today. Our movement around the ball is still not sharp enough. But for those eight [new] players to play in front of a fantastic crowd, it shows really strong potential for Japanese rugby.”
Harry Latham-Coyle22 June 2024 09:06
“The application of the players was really excellent. Clearly late in the game our cohesion broke up a little against a fast and skillful Japanese team who took their chances really well.
“I thought the ball movement of the Japanese team was excellent. You can tell that team is going to grow and be very dangerous. We had to defend really well to keep them out.”
Harry Latham-Coyle22 June 2024 09:02
“I thought it was a really tough game. The conditions were very difficult, so I’m very proud about the way we went about our business. It was always going to be difficult to come over here and get a result, so we are happy with that.
“They are a fantastic team. We knew they were going to be very well drilled - we know Eddie well and have huge respect for him as a coach.
“I think it probably took us a little while to get used to the conditions, but we were really efficient with the ball. We’ve got some really talented backs with speed and we managed to show that today.”
Harry Latham-Coyle22 June 2024 09:00
A big win for England, then, though that late Charlie Ewels dismissal does somewhat mar an otherwise very encouraging day. After a sticky start in the heat and humidty, Steve Borthwick’s side accelerated away, with Marcus Smith and Henry Slade influential and their pack on top in close contact.
Japan stayed in the fight, though, and got some of the rewards they merited late on with lock Warner Dearns creating two lovely tries. For a young side, there will be plenty of learnings, too - as I’m sure Eddie Jones will underline when he speaks a little later.
Harry Latham-Coyle22 June 2024 08:55
Harry Latham-Coyle22 June 2024 08:50
England have got funky: Ben Earl is now stationed at 12, Henry Slade at 13 and Ollie Lawrence out on the wing. The latter is the target of a Fin Smith cross kick, but can’t gather as he slides towards the line. And that’ll be that!
Harry Latham-Coyle22 June 2024 08:50
“High degree of danger, no mitigation” - Charlie Ewels’ yellow card is upgraded to red! Two years after his last Test against Ireland at Twickenham was ended inside a few minutes after being sent off for a high tackle, Ewels is dismissed again on his international return - and that may be his tour over.
Harry Latham-Coyle22 June 2024 08:49
England hit a half-century!
Sam Underhill wins a breakdown penalty and gets immediate reward, riding a fast-moving chariot to the line as England maul strongly. Henry Slade converts.
Harry Latham-Coyle22 June 2024 08:45
Michael Leitch was lucky there that he managed to just jump back at the right time, lifting his studs out of the surface and avoiding serious injury (you’d hope) as a result. The veteran looks tired but is involved heavily as Japan just do enough to keep Tom Roebuck out on the right.
Harry Latham-Coyle22 June 2024 08:43
