England defeat Japan in Autumn Nations Series
England defeated Japan 52-13 in their second Autumn Nations Series Test.
A penalty try, scores from Freddie Steward, Marcus Smith (2), Guy Porter (2), and Ellis Genge, as well as 15 points from the boot of Owen Farrell secured the victory at Twickenham.
Eddie Jones' men took the lead inside the opening five minutes as Farrell successfully slotted a penalty in front of the uprights to make it 3-0.
The hosts showed flair in attack, and fans didn't have to wait long to see their first try of the afternoon off the back of a 22 metre scrum. Outside centre Guy Porter fixed the Japanese defence while Farrell lifted a pass behind him into the path of Marcus Smith, before the fly half distributed to the onrushing Steward, who scampered through a gap and over the whitewash. Farrell added the extras.
Scorer of the first, Steward was the catalyst for England's second try on 24 minutes, as he fielded a high ball and ran it back from deep inside his own half, piercing through Japan's line and offloading to fellow Leicester Tiger Jack van Poortvliet. The scrum half quickly shifted it to Joe Cokanasiga, who was brought down short of the line, but the winger was able to lift a pass to Marcus Smith, and the fly half dotted down in the corner. Farrell's extras extended the lead to 17 points.
As half hour passed on the clock, Japan fly half Takuya Yamasawa nudged successive penalties to reduce the deficit to 11 points, and with Jonny May sent to the sin bin for cynical breakdown defence, the Brave Blossoms looked for a shift in momentum. But sloppy play close to their own line saw them stripped of possession, and van Poortvliet threaded a well-weighted pass to Sam Simmonds, who assisted Guy Porter's first Test try. Farrell bagged his ninth point when converting the effort, as England went in at the break 24-6.
England started the second half in try-scoring mood, and had two inside ten minutes. First, Ellis Genge bounced the tackle of Gerhard van den Heever and muscled his way over the line, and moments later a neat turnover saw Jonny Hill and debutant David Ribbans link well, before Farrell stabbed a clever grubber kick from the base of a ruck into the in-goal area, with Porter winning the foot race to claim his second try. Farrell converted both to open up a 38-6 lead.
Naoto Saito scored Japan's first try of the match as the hour mark approached, after second row Warner Dearns broke away and put him under the sticks. Seungshin Lee added the conversion.
England began to tighten their grip on the Test match as referee James Doleman awarded the hosts a penalty try with ten minutes to go, sending replacement Siosaia Fifita to the sin bin at the same time.
Henry Slade came on to earn his 50th cap and had an immediate impact, as he chased a Steward kick, hacking it on himself and into the path of Smith who duly collected and touched down for his second score. Farrell continued his 100% accuracy with the boot, converting the final points of the match, confirming a 52-13 win.
Reaction
Freddie Steward: "We worked hard in the week. Today it clicked. Kick chase is a massive part of Test rugby, it was a focus for us. I love being here, I love playing at Twickenham."
Owen Farrell: "We wanted to make sure to show the best of ourselves, and I thought we did that this week. We felt more like ourself today. It's about the whole team. We have another seven days together which is important, that felt like a team going somewhere today, and we will see how far we can go in those seven days."
TEAMS
England
Starters
15. Freddie Steward, 14. Joe Cokanasiga, 13.Guy Porter 12. Owen Farrell (C), 11.Jonny May, 10. Marcus Smith, 9. Jack van Poortvliet 1. Ellis Genge (VC), 2. Luke Cowan-Dickie, 3. Kyle Sinckler, 4. David Ribbans, 5. Jonny Hill, 6. Maro Itoje, 7. Tom Curry, 8. Sam Simmonds.
Finishers
16. Jamie George, 17. Mako Vunipola, 18. Joe Heyes, 19. Alex Coles 20. Billy Vunipola 21. Ben Youngs, 22. Henry Slade, 23. Manu Tuilagi.
Japan
Starters
15. Ryohei Yamanaka, 14. Kotaro Munyaradzi Matsushima, 13. Dylan Riley, 12. Ryota Nakamura, 11. Gerhard van den Heever, 10. Takuya Yamasawa, 9. Yutaka Nagare 1. Keita Inagaki, 2. Atsushi Sakate (C), 3. Jiwon Gu, 4. Warner Dearns, 5. Jack Cornelsen, 6. Michael Leitch, 7. Kazuki Himeno, 8. Tevita Tatafu.
Replacements
16. Kosuke Horikoshi, 17. Craig Millar, 18. Yusuke Kizu, 19. Wimpie van der Walt, 20. Pieter Labuschagne, 21. Naoto Saito, 22. Seungshin Lee, 23. Siosaia Fifita.
Fixtures & Results
England 52 - 13 Japan
England vs New Zealand - Saturday 19 November
England vs South Africa - Saturday 26 November
