Not every game of rugby can deliver a result for the ages and this one never stood a chance of eclipsing the weekend’s remarkable events in Cardiff and Paris. In terms of one-sided contests at Twickenham down the years there have been few to match it although Will Joseph, England’s athletic new wing, will remember every detail for the rest of his days.
Related: England leave Jones sucking lemons but demolition of Japan shows widening gulf | Gerard Meagher
Joseph, playing only his second Test, ended up claiming a record-equalling five tries as his side comfortably topped their previous highest tally against the Brave Blossoms. From the moment he helped himself to a hat-trick of tries inside the game’s opening 20 minutes it was simply a question of how many points England would score and Maro Itoje’s side duly took advantage of the free buffet.
To say Japan finished a distant second is to be polite in the extreme. The home crowd went away talking about Joseph’s eye-catching performance and a barnstorming first-half score by Ellis Genge but, in truth, this was akin to shooting koi carp in a barrel after Japan lost their lock forward Harry Hockings to a subsequently upgraded 20-minute red card in the first minute.
England Steward; Joseph, Slade, Ojomoh, Murley; Ford (M Smith 57), Van Poortvliet (McParland 48); Genge (Iyogun 51), Cowan-Dickie (Dan 58), Opoku-Fordjour (Heyes 58), Itoje (Clark 63), Martin, Coles, Earl (Fisilau 51), Pollock (B Curry 57). Tries Joseph 5, Steward, Genge, Murley, Earl, Martin, B Curry, M Smith, Fisilau. Cons Ford 3, Slade 2. Pen Ford. Sin-bin Cowan-Dickie 53.
Japan Ueda; Ishida, Riley, Tua (Kitahara 70), Tokito (Costley 27); Kitahara (Komura 48), Saito (co-capt; Fujiwara 64); Kamimori (Otsuka 51), Harada (Sato 46), Takeuchi (Helu ht), Hockings (Stolberg 22), Dearns (co-capt), Gunter (Lee 57), Shimokawa, Cornelsen. Tries Dearns, Helu. Cons Saito. Pen Saito. Sin-bin Hockings 1.
Referee Damian Schneider (Arg). Att 81,552.
The visiting head coach, Eddie Jones, after the relative encouragement of a narrow loss to Wales, wore a stern expression up in the stands from an early stage on his latest return to familiar surroundings. Afterwards he had no option but to cop the result on the chin. “I’m massively disappointed but you have these days as a young team,” said Jones. “It was a hard lesson today.”
The irony of Joseph’s display was also not lost on the man who handed him his Test debut – “That’s not being very loyal, is it?” – in Australia four years ago. The Gloucester back has had to be patient but has now potentially catapulted himself into Steve Borthwick’s World Cup plans. As a quietly satisfied Borthwick put it: “We want to build a squad not a team and there are people who have really put their hand up.”
It has also made life interesting before the final round of Nations Championship pool fixtures next Saturday, with South Africa and New Zealand both now looking to respond to weekend jolts. Working on the basis that Japan, just seven days earlier, finished within a score of Wales it could be argued England should be regarded as slight favourites to overturn the All Blacks in London this coming weekend.
Even in the absence of some first-choice personnel Borthwick’s reshuffled side frequently attacked with verve and were already 49-10 up by the interval as Japan’s afternoon spiralled from bad to worse. Joseph’s first try in the opening minute was splendidly taken but none of the three defenders left sprawling in the 24-year-old’s wake will be in a hurry to rewatch the tape. Inside the first 20 minutes a neat double-pump pass from Henry Slade and a well-judged cross-kick from Freddie Steward had already served up a hat-trick on a willow pattern plate and an acrobatic dive into the right corner for his fourth try reflected the unfettered joy of a rising talent with serious potential.
Genge’s rip-snorting score, again leaving multiple bodies strewn on the floor, sent an even clearer message about England’s intentions, which only wavered fractionally when they were awarded an early penalty in front of the sticks. Judging by some of the expressions on the faces of certain English forwards, George Ford’s decision to kick three points was not universally popular, suggesting there are still differing opinions within the squad when it comes to England’s tactical identity.
Ireland warmed up for a showdown with world champions South Africa by labouring to a 43-15 Nations Championship victory over Fiji in Dublin. The hosts had won all six previous Test matches between the sides but struggled for fluency and briefly trailed during an uncomfortable opening period at a subdued Aviva Stadium. Robert Baloucoune scored twice in the first half for Andy Farrell’s men after quick-fire tries from Fiji pair Josua Tuisova and Peceli Yato overturned Tommy O’Brien’s early opener.
Ronan Kelleher, Andrew Porter, O’Brien and Nick Timoney went over in the second half as Ireland eventually pulled clear to keep alive their hopes of reaching the Nations Championship final. The result leaves Ireland level on 20 points with second-placed England in the northern hemisphere standings – a point below leaders France – ahead of next week’s mouthwatering clash with the Springboks.
Argentina bounced back from last week’s heavy Nations Championship defeat in Ireland as they held on to beat Italy 19-14 in Genoa. The visitors were forced to fight back from behind then breathed a sigh of relief when Alessandro Garbisi’s last-minute penalty kick strayed beyond the try line.
Monty Ioane scored the opening try for Italy who dominated the early stages and were unlucky to reach half-time on level terms after Bautista Bernasconi’s converted effort. Argentina took control in the second half with tries from Rodrigo Isgro and Matteo Carreras helping to nudge them 19-7 clear, before a penalty try gave Italy hope, and the South Americans hung on despite losing both Joel Sclavi and Efraín Elías to yellow cards. Press Association
Not that it remotely mattered on this occasion. Cadan Murley, clearly itching to get in on the act, muscled his way over and while Warner Dearns grabbed one back for Japan there was another five-pointer for Ben Earl before half-time. Within four minutes of the restart George Martin had taken England’s try tally to nine and it was something of a surprise when Opeti Helu crossed for the visitors’ second three minutes later.
Even Luke Cowan-Dickie being sent to the sin-bin offered Japan scant respite, an interception on halfway allowing Joseph, the younger brother of the former England centre Jonathan, to sprint 50 metres for his fifth try. Only Douglas Lambert in 1907, Rory Underwood in 1989, Josh Lewsey in 2003 and Henry Arundell in 2023 had otherwise achieved the feat in a Test for England.
The rest was a matter of dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s, although Marcus Smith and Greg Fisilau will not necessarily see it that way. Smith, on for Ford in the 57th minute, looked in sprightly mood and added dash to proceedings while Fisilau, as well as delivering one crunching defensive hit, could not be stopped as he took a more direct route to the line.
Only England’s goalkicking was below par with Ford and Henry Slade landing just five conversions between them. The missing points could have taken their team up into the nineties but, to be honest, people had stopped counting by the end. Jones reckons the All Blacks will pose a “violent” examination this week. “They’ll be hard and tough around the breakdown … they’ll be back to the old New Zealand,” he said, but England’s captain is eagerly awaiting the challenge. “They’re right up there among the toughest teams to play but I think this is a step up this team is ready for,” said Itoje. “We want to show where this team is going.”
