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.
England vs Japan – live updates
- FT: Japan 17-52 England – eight-try visitors put hosts to the sword in Tokyo
- TRY! JAPAN 17-45 England (Takuya Yamasawa, 68 minutes)
- TRY! JAPAN 10-45 England (Koga Nezuka, 66 minutes)
- TRY! Japan 3-45 ENGLAND (Harry Randall try, 58 minutes)
- TRY! Japan 3-38 ENGLAND (Ben Earl try, 50 minutes)
- TRY! Japan 3-33 ENGLAND (Alex Mitchell try, 43 minutes)
- TRY! Japan 3-26 ENGLAND (Henry Slade try, 42 minutes)
- TRY! Japan 3-21 ENGLAND (Immanuel Feyi-Waboso try, 29 minutes)
- TRY! Japan 3-14 ENGLAND (Marcus Smith try, 24 minutes)
- TRY! Japan 3-7 ENGLAND (Chandler Cunningham-South try, 14 minutes)
- Japan vs England: Marcus Smith’s breakthrough, a golden wing pair at last and five things we learned
Japan vs England: Marcus Smith’s breakthrough, a golden wing pair at last and five things we learned
11:58 , Jack Rath𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧
England geared up for Tests against the All Blacks in fine fashion as they secured a sizeable win over Japan in Tokyo.
Encountering Eddie Jones for the first time since the former head coach’s defenestration at the end of 2022, England would have feared a sticky afternoon in the heat and humidity of the Japanese capital, and struggled to get going with Japan firing out of the blocks.
But Marcus Smith and Henry Slade soon warmed to their work, showing off the ample attacking options at their disposal to accelerate up through the gears and eventually hit 50.
